Elementals
by clarisselarude
Summary: Exploring the idea of Annabeth, Grover and Luke on the run with the powers of the Elements. They try to escape from the government, who try to kill them for their power. When it comes down to nothing, the three move to New York and go to a high school...only to find the fourth Elemental. Luke art- slytherik Grover- TheSweedishFish Percy- cherryandsisters Annabeth- Angela Tong
1. Prologue

_There are four elements: air, water, fire and earth. And four controllers currently in existence. Just four, no more, no less. These controllers control the elements, and keep them at bay. The controllers are extremely powerful, but dangerous. The elements shall be united when ready, but from them on, misfortune will strike. _

_I'm sure your mundane mind is buzzing with questions. Who are these controllers, you may ask? Only four can exist at once, Elementals being picked randomly. This generation's controllers are four teenagers: Grover Underwood, Luke Castellan, Annabeth Chase and unknown, all with immense power. _

_But of course, power is a thing to fear. Imagine four people with the power to control the very oxygen you breathe, to turn your plants against you, to be able to drown you all with one motion, and to be able to set you and your houses on fire. A human's first instinct would be to liberate the threat immediately. _

_ And so, the three live in constant fear for their lives, afraid of being hunted by mortals, the government against them. Death is their punishment for existing. On the run, switching from city to city, country to country, just to prolong their awaiting deaths. _

_And why do they even have the power, if it's such a dangerous thing? It's dangerous, but necessary. Someone needs to keep the elements at bay, or the world will be left in a state of chaos. The backstory behind it? _

_Long ago, there were four powerful warriors. Destined to either be the best of friends, or the worst of enemies. They chose to be enemies. Four were at war with each other, each taking a different approach to the other. Seuz took the path of air. Desah took the path of earth. Eisonpod took the path of water. And Thuphaeses, somehow different to the others, took the path of fire. _

_That was a war with no victor. All it caused was havoc and destruction. They ended up destroying each other. Lives were lost, people were in all sorts of jeopardy, grieving for one another, and the human race paused its advancement. _

_Their powers passed on to each generation, the four were destined to be the best of friends...or the worst of enemies. _


	2. I

_Set: Britain, Liverpool_

A mighty flame ignited in Annabeth's hand. The night breeze caressed her face. Her eyes set, her lips tight, her jaw clenched- a determined foe.

Flames shot up Annabeth's forearm, and before she knew it, she was set alight. The fire merely tickled her soft skin. She smiled, truly happy to have gained control.

"Annabeth! You shouldn't be here!" Annabeth turned to see her pursuer. It was Luke: one of her friends.

Luke controlled the air. His arms were tan and chiselled, even for a 15 year-old boy (the same age as Annabeth). His blue eyes glinted in the night. Luke's sandy hair hung in his face, surprisingly not obscuring his vision.

"The mortals might see..." A whisper escaped Luke's mouth. Annabeth's steel grey eyes fumed with anger at the mention of the mortals.

"Let them. See if I care."

Luke sighed.

"They'll hunt us down if they see what we are!" Annabeth bit her lip; he was right. She reprimanded herself for such idiocy.

Annabeth wondered if anything else existed among Luke, Grover and herself. Of course, there'd be a water manipulator out there, but they didn't focus on that. They could be anywhere. They might not even know about their powers.

Luke held out a hand. Annabeth took it.

"Come on. Grover might be waiting for us." She scoffed at that.

"Yeah, right. He'd sleep through a tornado!"

Luke smirked,

"And I'd be the one who caused that tornado."

"Hey, you two! Come inside already!" A third voice chimed in. Grover mock frowned at them. He controlled earth.

Grover was a gangly teen, also 15 years of age. He was sort of lanky and really loved nature, which made sense.

"In a second! Be patient, like how you're patient with Juniper." Luke yelled back. Juniper was Grover's crush, one of the few mortals who knew about the Elementals. She was also one of the few mortals who didn't try to kill the four of them.

Why, you may ask, would they want to kill them? There are just four controllers of the elements. Annabeth, Luke and Grover were three of them. She found it a great coincidence that they'd found each other so easily, all in Liverpool (a city in Britain, you may have heard of the football team).

So much so, that it didn't really seem a coincidence. It seemed like someone above them was controlling their every move, and invading their minds. It seemed meant to be. Of course, Annabeth was grateful for Luke and Grover in her life, but she always wondered what life would be like without them.

When they had first met, something odd happened. The three of their powers attacked one another. Annabeth remembered that day like it was yesterday.

_Tangled vines grabbed at Annabeth's feet. She burned them away, dodging a swinging tree branch. Luke was swatting fire away using his powers. He had a terrified look in his eye. Grover, in the meantime, was clinging onto a tree, a mini-hurricane attacking him._

_Unfortunately for them, they just so happened to meet in a crowded shopping centre: a place full of mortals. The majority of mortals went wild at the sight of such chaos, screaming awful things like 'monsters' or 'abomination'. Others ran away screaming, alerting the police. _

_Police were only a few minutes away. Though Liverpool was a safe city, they always patrolled city centre. And so the three were forced to scatter, hiding in an alleyway near a doughnut stand. Their powers had stopped creating havoc, as if chaos only existed when the mortals were around. _

_Annabeth had grabbed Grover's wrist, at the same time looking Luke in the eye. _

_"Listen to me," her tone was harsh and commanding, much too commanding for a then 13 year-old, "we have to run together. No splitting up. If we split up, we won't be able to fight them off. They'll catch us eventually and we'll be sentenced to either life in prison or death. I don't know you, but we can't fight them off individually." _

_Luke nodded solemnly. He felt like maybe this girl had answers he didn't, and he needed answers. Grover, however, just didn't want to face the police, because he knew the girl was right. _

It still brought back a bitter taste in her tongue, to this day. Luke seemed to sense what was going on in her mind. Grover flinched, a feeling of despair stirring up. He turned his back towards them, leaving them to watch his retreating figure.

"Oh...you're thinking about _that_ day." Annabeth nodded.

"I still don't get why we'd get sentenced to death." She rolled her eyes, going through the explanation for a thousandth time.

"Firstly, we don't have files or records. Anywhere. I don't know why, but we don't. That means we're kind of living here illegally. That would get us prison time. Secondly, the government knows we'd be too powerful with the water manipulator, so they need to eradicate us, three of four Elementals. They're totally keeping our existence from everyone else. Once we turn 18, we'll be eligible for death, even if it's allowed in Britain by that time or not." That last sentence had sent a shiver up Luke's spine, and a hint of anger too.

He didn't get why the government would want to eradicate a few teenagers, simply for their power. Yes, they were all extremely powerful and possibly dangerous, but they were just _kids_. They didn't deserve death.

What they did deserve, however, was the chance to live comfortably. None of them knew both their parents. They were constantly on the run. They never committed crimes, yet would be put into maximum security prison, along with murderers, terrorists and rapists. Their only _crime, _was _existing. _

Luke felt the irresistible urge to voice his thoughts to Annabeth and Grover. How he was angry- no, _p*ssed_\- at the world for stealing everything from him, including his mum, his chance at happiness, and everything he ever loved. He bit back the urge.

Swallowing a lump in his throat, "I'm going back inside. Be careful." It was 12am, and his eyes drooped with tiredness. Annabeth's, however, were literally burning with determination. She wouldn't be sleeping any time soon. She seemed to be able to go days on no sleep nor caffeine.

**-One hour later-**

Of course, she did need her sleep, and a pounding headache was starting to creep through. It was 1am, and Annabeth's mind started to tire. Drowsiness seeped through her eyes.

Hastily, she shut the door behind her, leaning against it. Life was seriously tough sometimes. Why couldn't she just live like a normal person? It wasn't the time to grieve, yet she fought to stop her lips trembling, about to let out a sob.

_Hold yourself together, Annabeth. _She told herself, inhaling deep breaths, blinking back her tears. _Not this time. Suck it up. _

And she did. She would bottle up her feelings for as long as she could. When she finally cracked, the tears would be unstoppable, but it would be better than breaking down every now and then.

Every step she took towards her 'room' was pure agony. Her vision started tunnelling with a pounding headache. Tears threatened to spill, but she blinked them away. The door creaked open at Annabeth's touch, revealing a dusty bed without a pillow.

**-3am-**

Unlike Grover, she was a light sleeper, as the years had taught her to be.

_Of course_, she would wake up to the sound of blaring sirens. Annabeth could pretty much never catch a break. She was almost used to it. She would have to flee again.

"Luke! Grover! They found us!" Annabeth hastily rushed around the house, collecting few of their possessions. There were some things that she just couldn't forfeit.

Luke and Grover appeared at her side, also packing up. Luke's hair was in a messy bed-head, and black circles were beneath Grover's eyes, yet their faces glowed with determination.

Grover breathed a sigh, "There's a forest nearby. We can hide there." Annabeth nodded, burning a hole in the back of the house. She leaped out, as quiet as possible.

Luke and Grover followed, and they began their run. They sprinted, running away from their problems once again.

It was dark out, and almost impossible to see anything, but thankfully, Grover had great navigation skills, being the controller of earth and all.

Annabeth dared to look behind her, to see the warehouse burning down. Firefighters had been brought by the police, which confirmed that they were looking for them.

She shook her head, resuming her run. All her possessions were gone, but at least she saved what she could. They had reached the so-called 'forest', though it was more like a bunch of trees.

The trio gave themselves a few minutes to catch their breath and process all that happened. Luke heaved a fed-up sigh, "We can't live here anymore. They'll find us sooner or later."

Grover and Annabeth both nodded. As much as she hated to admit it, they really did need to move. Out of the country.

"Where to?" Grover piped up. He was normally a little shy and didn't speak much (except when an enchilada was offered), napped too much, but he seemed really frightened, which Annabeth found understandable.

Luke stared at nothing, "Somewhere where they wouldn't expect us to go. Somewhere where the death penalty is legal, somewhere where the crime and injustice rate is high. We're going to America."


	3. II

"We're going to America."

Grover knew it was dangerous and risky, but there were no other means. It was death or danger. And he chose danger. He glanced at Annabeth, wondering what she would think. Her face was expressionless, but he thought he saw a sad glint in her eyes. It was gone as quickly as it appeared.

America wasn't that risky of a place for the three of them, but the transportation and immigration would be insanely tough. How were they going to get past airport securities?

Annabeth voiced his thoughts, "Okay, but how are we going to get there? Airport security is tough, even for you." Luke smirked.

"Who said we were going to go on an airplane?" He flashed three cruise tickets, smirking mischievously. Luke was a seriously good thief, but this just seemed _impossible._

"You planned this all along?" Luke nodded solemnly. It was probably obvious to Annabeth, but Grover couldn't believe that Luke had thought so in advance. He was usually so impulsive.

"The cruise is today at 12pm. It's not much, but it will take us to New York." That sparked some suspicion from Grover, but he shrugged it off. Luke was his friend and only ally (aside from Annabeth), and he didn't question his friends.

**-12pm-**

"Yeah. Not much." Grover had to crane his neck just to see the top of the massive yacht. Annabeth was fangirling like crazy, Luke was smirking pridefully, and Grover was admiring their ride.

The yacht was fifty foot tall, with loads of decks, windows and a lot of people. In big gold letters were the words 'Princess Andromeda'. On the front of the ship was a statue of a girl, probably the old Princess Andromeda. It was beautiful.

No wonder Luke told them to dress in fancy swimsuits that he stole from _Gucci. _It was so they'd fit in. Grover wasn't used to such luxury, but he felt he could enjoy himself just fine.

"Let's board. I can't wait to try some of these facilities." Annabeth, for once, looked relaxed. The tired, focused look in her eye disappeared. Her face loosened, as if all her problems were magically fading. In some way, it kind of was.

She looked happy, which was something Grover only saw once, maybe twice. And if she was happy, he was happy. Annabeth was his best friend, after all.

Grover stole a glance at Luke. His arms were folded, his hair was windswept, and, though he didn't show emotions much, a smile was present on his face. Smiles were a rare luxury.

"Come on!" Annabeth hurried off without them, eyeing the pool. She sported a red and gold two-piece, which showed off her athletic figure. Grover and Luke trailed behind her.

The interior was even better than the outside. There was a little area of glass, so you could see the sea nicely. Grover wasn't sure whether that was a good idea or not; he just hoped the glass was strong.

Other than that, there was a marble floor, and a reception at the front, with two cacti beside it. People scurried off carrying plates of hors d'oeuvres and mojitos.

Luke approached the receptionist, put on a charming smile, added in a wink, handed three tickets to the receptionist, and wrapped his arms around Grover and Annabeth.

"Hi. I'm Castiel Lyons. These are my friends Claire Adams and Ussain Gunter."

The receptionist smiled, but raised an eyebrow.

"You brought two of your friends on a cruise like this?" Luke was obviously nervous, but hid it quite well. He patted Grover's shoulder, to which Grover gulped.

"Oh...he's my boyfriend!" It was obviously a quick, last second decision, but Annabeth still let out a snort, covering it up with a cough. The receptionist smiled again, tying red bands around their wrists.

"Of course! This is to show you're first class, so you get access to all those little extra perks."

**-4:45pm-**

The receptionist's idea of 'little extra perks' included a five-star suite, unlimited free food, and a personal entourage. Much to Grover's pleasure, they served enchiladas. And man, were they good!

It was a 5-day-long cruise, and he didn't expect anything less, because Luke did not waste all that energy stealing the tickets for nothing. So he decided to pig out as much as possible.

Annabeth did not join in on the eating. Instead, she tried every single sport on this ship, even hacky-sack! Turns out she had a talent for it. Luke, meanwhile, did a bit of both. He was always a middle-ground kind of guy.

The cruise was going great! Too well, almost, but they did deserve a break. He'd probably never get an opportunity like this ever again. Why not take advantage of it? Grover, Annabeth and Luke would probably die really young. He figured he'd make it as enjoyable as possible.

Maybe this was life's way of apologising, or maybe he was just paranoid, but it felt almost too good to be true. He couldn't shake the feeling that the ship would blow up or something and they'd all die, or even worse...if someone recognised them.

_It'd all be over in a few days. Just enjoy this while you can. _His brain kept reminding him, and honestly, it wasn't that hard having a good time.

**-5 days later, 6:30am-**

There was about an hour till they got off at New Jersey, which was pretty close to New York, and they decided to make the last hour worth while. Turns out there was an arcade, titled 'Lotus' and they served seriously nice snacks.

Grover was actually really good at arcade games. Luke was okay, but very easy to beat. Annabeth was nothing. The only thing she could do was shoot ducks and pop balloons with a dart, which, admittedly, she did quite well.

An hour had passed, and they had to get off. Grover wore a green long-sleeved shirt, a Rasta cap, denim jeans and red sneakers. Nothing much, but it was one of his favourite outfits.

Annabeth decided to take a little souvenir. Souvenirs were also good, especially when you'll never go to that place ever again. Luke didn't mind much, except he forgot to drop in a very important note about their trip to New York.

"Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention, I enrolled us in high school!" Grover was aghast. High school was a horrible place for kids like them.

"We're run-aways! We can't go to school!" He whisper-shouted. Luke heeded no attention, so Annabeth chimed in.

"Well, I'm a little disappointed you didn't check with us first, but I think it would be good for us. We need to start living normally." He still didn't like the idea of high school, because his last experience with school was...bizzarre.

Though, Grover did have to admit she made some good points: it would be good for them. They always wanted to be normal, but didn't make any effort to do so.

"Alright. When do we start?" Luke smirked, as he always does when he has something mischievous up his sleeve.

"Today, at 8am."

**-8am-**

The school was absolutely huge. Were all schools like this? A big banner was at the entrance, saying 'Welcome to Goode, we hope you'll have a Goode day', which Grover found absolutely mortifying.

Luke motioned for them to go in, and they both trailed behind him. Blue lockers lined the front, just after a reception. Luke, once again, approached the receptionist, who was engrossed in her computer.

"Hello. My name is Luke Castellan, this is Annabeth Chase and Grover Underwood." Annabeth shot him a glance, noticing that he used their real names. Luke just winked and shrugged.

The receptionist handed them three pieces of paper: timetables, and said,

"Have a Goode day!" She was friendly enough, but there was just something about her that made Grover uncomfortable, like her tacky make-up and fake tan.

Luke nodded, bringing Grover and Annabeth with him.

"British government can't find us, and their forces can't come to America, so we're 100% safe to use our real names." Annabeth wasn't convinced, but she went with it.

Luke hurried off to whatever lesson he had, leaving Annabeth and Grover to fend for themselves.

"We both have the same first lesson." Grover picked up on that. Annabeth was probably in all the high-end classes, but they seemed to have the first lesson today. It was English, and considering Annabeth had dyslexia and he didn't, it made sense.

Somehow, he'd gotten away without anything, while Annabeth and Luke had dyslexia/ADHD. It was pretty lucky, because they needed _someone _to read road signs out to them.

They made their way to a particular room, only to find it was the janitor's room. So Grover decided to ask a passing student for help.

"Hey, excuse me! Could you show us the way to Room 42 please?" The student glanced at them and snarled, like an animal. They ran off after that. Annabeth wrinkled her nose,

"Well, this place seems hostile."

"Let's not judge so quickly. I see a sign. It's on the third floor." Grover hated to admit it, but this place seemed too sickeningly hostile for the three of them. He wondered how Luke was doing.

Were all high schools like this? Hopefully not, and this was either an exception or that student just wasn't feeling well. This was why he didn't want to join school. It was so dramatic.

Grover decided to just suck it up, dragging Annabeth (much to her dismay) up a few flights of stairs. It wasn't easy, because he had a limp, and that Annabeth was stubborn, but he managed in the end.

The worst thing about high school? Having to introduce yourself to the entire class. The teacher, a stout man with a pale face, a bald head and an over-enthusiastic manner greeted the two with a beaming smile.

"Hello! You must be Grover and Annabeth, the new students. My name is Mr Sir." Annabeth raised an eyebrow, trying to suppress a laugh. Grover, on the other hand, did not laugh. About 30 new faces were glaring in his direction, and it was _not _funny.

It was mortifying. They all seemed so intimidating, and he'd hate to sit next to them or even utter a word to them. Annabeth seemed to sense it,

"Um...Mr Sir, can Grover and I sit next to each other?"

Thankfully, he nodded, gesturing to two desks in the back. As Annabeth and him walked there, he felt loads of eyes boring into his back. He decided that he did not like socialising and people.

Annabeth held herself with such confidence and authority, with her chin up and everything, she almost seemed ten times as intimidating. It was more of a defence mechanism, to ward off criminals and muggers. She was probably the scariest girl he'd ever met, except she was also his best friend.

He was glad he had her and Luke, at the very least. Grover's parents were never there for him, and it was kind of sad that he found more solace in two strangers than his own family.

Those were his main thoughts throughout an hour-long lesson on a Tuesday morning: grieving. This was probably the first time Grover had ever been truly bored. There was always something (like the police chasing them) to keep him occupied. Maybe this was the sign of a normal life.

After that, he had the worst lesson in the world: PE. Annabeth felt fine, but for someone like Grover, with a limp in his leg, PE wasn't so pleasant. He considered skipping, but realised that would be bad to do on his first day.

Luke joined them for PE. Whatever lesson he had before that, it really got him riled up and got his adrenaline pumping. He was dressed in a red muscle shirt and gym shorts.

Annabeth didn't even bother. The school said she could wear whatever she wanted for PE, so she didn't even bother changing. She didn't sweat much anyway.

And Grover, thankfully, acted sick and got to miss out. He got lucky, but he probably couldn't play the same trick next week. Who even has PE on their first day anyway?

It was dodgeball, and two kids got to pick who was on their team. When it came to Luke and Annabeth, practically everyone was eyeing the two cautiously, deciding who was better.

This got the game going. He suddenly wanted to watch, badly, and see who would win between the two. When Luke and Annabeth fought, it would be _intense. _Grover only ever saw it once, but it was a heated argument. Things were getting chucked, and it wasn't in dodgeball.

As expected, Luke and Annabeth _dominated. _Like, they both kicked the other team's asses. It was probably because they had a lot of practice from running away. Everyone thought they were just athletic, but Grover knew the truth. Luke was a professional thief and Annabeth got into trouble with the law a lot. Grover kind of just made the food from the groceries Luke stole.

Most of the other kids didn't stand a chance against the two. One kid got whacked in the butt, courtesy of Annabeth. Another almost got knocked out by Luke. It was soon narrowed down to just Annabeth and Luke in just 20 minutes.

Annabeth dodged, tilting left to right and once, she somersaulted out of the way, which earned a gasp from everyone except the coach, who was older than the Queen, and engrossed in his magazine. Grover guessed that somersaulting wasn't normal.

Luke didn't have to dodge much, except when all the balls were on Annabeth's side, in which he dodged perfectly. He threw with terrifying accuracy. The game continued like that for a while, until they all had to go and get changed (except Annabeth and Grover).

Most of the kids were insanely impressed by Annabeth and Luke, and even suggested signing up for the dodgeball team. Annabeth did, but Luke decided to join basketball instead. It looked like those two would be really popular.

Grover, however, would probably be really unpopular. Even with Annabeth and Luke as his best friends, he'd get bullied heavily. He could see it. He would join the gardening club (yes, there was one) while those two became the captains of high-end sports teams.

He couldn't help but feel a little jealous, despite how much he loved Luke and Annabeth. All because of this stupid limp in his legs, and the funny way he ran, he wouldn't be able to run properly. Maybe he could outrun police, but there was nobody watching the weird way he ran.

Annabeth approached him, sitting down next to him.

"Hey. Are you okay?" Grover shook his head, not wanting to talk. Unfortunately for him, she had a knack for sensing when things were wrong.

"If you want, we can find some way for you to miss out on PE. I'll get someone to write a note, explaining why you can't." He nodded, sniffling.

"Thank you, Annabeth. I really don't know what I did to deserve you."

She smiled, wrapping her arms around him. He hugged back. Life seemed to finally seemed to be getting better for the three of them. Grover hoped it would last for a bit.


	4. III

All that hope was crushed the second an explosion went off.

Luke scrambled out of the changing room half-clothed, a panicked expression on his face. Annabeth and Grover looked just as startled as him when a voice came from the speakers.

"It's alright, kids! Just a small commotion in the science department! Everyone is unscathed...mostly." It didn't sound all that small, but Luke decided that he had bigger problems. Still, he did have a bit of grudging respect for the guy who caused that.

He went back into the changing rooms to get dressed. Whoever decided public changing rooms was a good idea is an idiot. All the other guys with their frail bodies kept eyeing him and his back, which was littered with scars.

It was obvious why, except there was a bullet wound that really didn't help with Luke's self-esteem. It had been two years ago, so hopefully the others thought it was a recent bruise. Still, the whisperings about it weren't pleasant.

"Sh*t, girls _love_ bad boys. Probably a player."

"Do you think he has trouble at home?"

"Ooh, what if he did that to himself?"

"Man, he looks like a criminal!" That guy didn't even bother to hide his voice. Luke's fists clenched with fury, but he tried to not cause a scene. Unfortunately, no matter what he did, they seemed set on the criminal idea.

"Ooh, he might go berserk! Shut up, Dan. Don't anger the delinquent!" They weren't actually afraid of him; they were mocking him. And Luke did not take kindly to bullies.

Still, he didn't want to get expelled on the first day. Luke decided that he would not beat these kids up, because, as Grover would say 'violence is not the answer'. And also, there were better ways to spite someone instead of overpowering them. Like winning over them.

Luke decided he wouldn't feel shame. The scars on his body just proved that he went through a lot more than the other kids. That he was smarter, stronger and a heck of a lot better looking too. He could sense jealousy too.

But one day, he would get them. He would get them all, for the pain the scars brought. They were in this mess because their sh*tty parents abandoned them the second they saw their powers. Not now, but one day. He swore on that.

When he stepped outside, Annabeth and Grover were talking, sitting on a bench and discussing things. Luke walked over and joined them, sitting beside Grover, smiling at him. He beamed back.

"So, what's your next lesson?" Sadly, they all had different talents and weaknesses, so they didn't have many lessons together. Annabeth glanced down at her planner, which confirmed that they both had science too, just not the same as Luke.

When the bell rung, they had to scurry off to their lessons. Luke hauled his way up to science, which was on the second floor. A messy line was being formed in front of the door, probably because the teacher was late.

Everyone had split up into their little groups, eyeing Luke. He wondered if all new kids felt this way. None of them bothered to talk to him. A few kids were in his PE, and he was glad he made quite an impression on them.

The teacher, a gaudy woman in her 50s with too much makeup on, had unlocked the door and told everyone to line up against the wall so she could seat them. Everyone groaned at that, including Luke. He hoped he would sit on a desk by himself, not needing to talk to anyone.

Yet he was seated with most probably the rowdiest person in class. Everything about him screamed 'bully'. He recognised him as a guy in the changing rooms.

The way he positioned himself alone was aggravating. His pitch black hair was gelled horribly, paired with beady brown eyes and pale skin. A permanent smirk was etched on his face, eyeing every victim possible, until he spit at a girl in front of him and laughed at her. Luke decided he would not be one of those victims.

High school was very different to being on the run. On the run, you gained dominance through strength. In school, it all depended on money, judging by the kid's clothes. On the run, there were allies. In school, there were _friends. _On the run, survival was your priority. In school, popularity was your priority.

At the same time, there were still similarities. On the run, there were thugs looking to steal from you. Here, it was just stupid people looking to take your lunch money. It was sickening.

Idiots like the kid next to him disgusted him. They thought they were more powerful simply for their parent's money. And what would happen to the 'powerless'? They get bullied. It was a hierarchy all over again. Luke was the one with the _real_ power. And this system wasn't fair.

Teachers didn't give a f*ck whether kids got stressed or not. Why would they? The 'brainless' children weren't worth it. Maybe Luke was being dramatic, but there was no doubt something had to change.

He had always detested the government this way. First, they were totally fine sentencing three kids to death, just for existing, then they hate anyone that's just not like them, and now they have the urge to mess up school.

Goode wasn't the best school, but Luke didn't think it would be this bad. If he was in charge of all this, he swore he would make it better-

"Luke Castellan?" The teacher's raspy voice interrupted his thoughts, calling his name out. She was taking register. He answered.

The kid beside him turned towards him, a malevolent grin on his face.

"Castellan, eh? Cool name. You seem like a cool guy, with all those scars." This guy was obviously trying to recruit him into his group. 'Cool' was the last word he would use to describe his scars.

"Thanks." Luke decided to just keep it brief, because there was no point arguing with this guy and getting into trouble. He would try to do as less talking as possible.

"You know, if you joined us, you could be one of the most popular kids in school. My friends and I could use you." This kid couldn't even beat around the bush. He didn't even bother hiding the fact that Luke was a mere resource for them.

He shook his head.

"I don't want to be popular." The guy raised an eyebrow-the teacher had called him Sloane- and shrugged, though he did look sort of p*ssed.

"Whatever. Suit yourself. You can stick with your stupid girlfriend and that nerd." Luke clenched his fists. Sloane could insult him all he wanted, but if he touched Annabeth or Grover, he would cave this guy's face in.

Annabeth and Grover were actually the opposite of 'stupid' and 'nerd'. Sloane didn't know them and was also not worth it. Luke's temper was insanely short, but he would not be beating anyone up today.

He decided to listen to the teacher's ranting for once. She wouldn't stop talking, so he figured it was a good distraction. Plus, he did come here to learn. Time passed quick enough. Fifteen minutes, thirty, forty-five. Sixty.

The bell had rung, signalling lunch. He decided he would go find Annabeth and Grover. His next lesson, art, was with Annabeth. It was surprising, since Annabeth was a really good architect and insanely good at art.

Everyone scurried out the classroom, even the teacher. Luke pushed past them, not bothering to apologise, trying to catch Grover, who was in sight, heading towards the nearest staircase.

"Grover! Hi. Where's Annabeth?" As soon as he asked, she had emerged out of the bathroom, her hands doused in water. Maybe she had used the bathroom. Grover asked if she was okay, which was weird.

"I'm fine," she turned to Luke, lowering her voice, "we were doing an experiment involving a Bunsen burner and my hands were set on fire. Nobody noticed, but I went to the bathroom immediately.

Luke gulped. He would have to take precautions from now on, especially since they were always (hopefully) surrounded by air.

"We have to be careful. We can't have anyone else knowing who we are." It was crazy how they had to take so many precautions just to stay alive. Nobody should have to do that.

They walked through the school, deciding to explore a bit. What really p*ssed Luke off was the amount of bullies they came across. None of them dared touch the three of them after that performance in PE (which, admittedly, Luke was proud of).

That didn't stop them from bullying other people. Luke didn't interfere, though he did feel like it. It wasn't worth getting expelled over.

Annabeth, on the other hand, didn't have a problem interfering. She hated bullies as much as Luke did, if not more. She'd been bullied previously, so it didn't surprise them that she ended up threatening/ punching every single one.

It was admirable, really. Luke wished he had as much courage to face bullies head on, especially outnumbered. Annabeth was an insanely good fighter though. She had adapted well, learning to fight so quick.

Luke bit into a sandwich made by Grover, watching Annabeth knee a guy in the no-no area. It was actually sort of entertaining, considering she was eating a sandwich herself.

It had been 20 of 45 minutes, and Annabeth had dealt with exactly 15 bullies. It was sad that the amount was so high, but Luke was glad that someone was dealing with them. He had grown tired of them though.

"Can we go on a walk? I'm bored, and I'm getting tired of these idiots." Annabeth and Grover obliged. It was just a walk around the outside of school, but it still made Luke feel better.

Goode was in quite a nice area. It was a shame that the people weren't as nice. Skyscrapers dotted the place, it was very tidy and people bustled about on their daily lives. It was chaotic, but peaceful at the same time.

Luke had a feeling there was more to the eye, though. It was an extremely rich area, and rich people tend to be kind of snobby, speaking from experience. Rich areas also tended to be full of high-end gangs.

He knew that for sure. Luke had researched the place, and it was buzzing with high-end gangs and other sort of illegal activity, all happening right under the government's nose.

"We have about 15 minutes left. We should probably head back inside in 5." Grover checked his watch, which he stole from a pimp a few weeks ago. It was probably worth a lot, but they needed to check time. They'd pawn it off later.

It was also one of the things that stopped Grover from getting bullied. A display of wealth and superiority. It was sad, but Grover seemed to be able to manage just fine. He was a lot stronger than he looked.

"Let's go back inside. We've come quite far, I don't want to be late on my first day." She was right: they had come far. In a city they didn't know at all. Either they were idiots, or they really needed to get away. And their phones were in their lockers.

"It's fine. We'll just ask where Goode is."

That was the worst idea Luke had ever came up with. No one would even point them in the right direction. Everyone was so unfriendly, or they didn't know.

Grover sighed, "Great! We're lost and can't find our way to-"

"You're the new kids." A fourth voice chimed in. Luke turned around. A boy, lean and good-looking, stood in front of them.

His whole posture screamed trouble, and Luke almost backed off, before realising that he was trouble himself. A mischievous smirk was permanently etched on his face, his eyes gleaming with mirth.

The boy's dark hair was windswept and untidy, but in a nice bed-head way. His arms were crossed across his chest, so he looked a little intimidating. In conclusion, he was either the popular boy, the loner or the troublemaker.

Annabeth marched up, sticking a hand out to him. He shook it, giving her a bit of a warmer smile. She smiled back, with just as much warmth.

"Hi, my name is Annabeth Chase. We got a little lost. Could you please show us the way back to Goode?" The amount of politeness in her voice was baffling. She never spoke like that, especially not to a stranger.

The boy nodded. He motioned for them to follow him, walking in front of them. He lead them through an alleyway, which was apparently a shortcut. Luke panicked for a second, except it really was a shortcut.

They were there in about two minutes. Goode's tall structure loomed above them, as it trying to intimidate them. Luke resisted the urge to show it the middle finger.

Annabeth smiled at the guy again, thanking him. He shrugged,

"It's no problem. My name is Percy, by the way. Percy Jackson."


	5. IV

**Comments**

_Guest: I really like this, please continue!_

_Reply: Omg. People actually like me. And yeah, I definitely will continue! I try to update (and fail miserably) every weekend. This is probably not on the weekend, so sorry. _

_Guest: Dude, I think the Ancient Greeks copied you. I mean, Zeus is clearly a copy of Suez, right _

_Reply: All I'm going to say is 'crap'. It was supposed to be some big reveal and I was too stupid to create good names. Props to you for noticing lol _

Percy walked off after showing them their way. He couldn't help but think that they wouldn't last a day here. They were good-looking and witty, and probably would be popular, but they wouldn't make the cut as bullies.

Goode wasn't cliche. It didn't have mean girls or jocks. No one was divided into cliques. It did have bullies. Bad ones. The teachers didn't care much either.

Percy almost didn't survive his first week at Goode. He had about seven bruises when he refused to give his lunch over to Matt Sloane. Luckily, he learned the key to survival: outcasting yourself.

His next lesson was Food Tech, which he was surprisingly good at. It was located on the ground floor. On his way, a few kids sneered at him, but they couldn't touch him. Not with people watching.

The line was even messier than usual, probably because Nancy Bobofit had her posse with her and was shrieking about Zac Efron's abs.

Nancy wasn't the stereotypical mean girl. She didn't have a jock boyfriend, as her ugliness prevented her. She did flirt with every good-looking guy ever, and failed miserably.

But, she was still the head b*tch at Goode. She was rich and persuasive. Probably the meanest girl in existence. Dumb, ugly, rude, but rich. That was all that mattered.

Percy had noticed that the scrawny kid named Grover Underwood was in front of him, right behind Bobofit's posse. He was noticeable, since he was a new kid.

Unfortunately for Grover, Nancy had noticed him too. She only noticed two kinds of people: good-looking guys with six-packs or _victims. _

She approached him, smiling cruelly, showing off her crooked teeth with food stuck in them. Grover paid her no attention, rolling his eyes and checking his watch. Bold actions.

Nancy, naturally, got offended and attempted to slap Grover in the face, which would've been brutal, considering her nails. That was when Percy snapped.

He grabbed her wrist, bringing her nose to nose with him, eyes wild and angry. That was her cue to grin and blush, but not this time. Percy was _angry_, and it was no joke.

"You do not touch this kid, or anyone else for that matter." He didn't stop to consider the consequences. This would probably result in expulsion. He didn't know why he did this for a guy he didn't know for an hour.

Before Nancy could retaliate, the teacher, a chubby blonde woman, had unlocked the door and let everyone inside. Kids just sat with their friends, and there was only one desk for two remaining, so Percy sat with Grover.

He didn't mind sitting next to him much. In fact, it felt quite good to be sitting next to someone for a change, especially someone smart like Grover. He was also sort of funny. Maybe he would make a friend after all. Later, he would have to make food with Grover. It didn't bother him that much.

"Percy Jackson," the teacher called him out, naturally, "what are Amino acids?" Of course, he didn't bother listening to her lecture. He had better stuff to do, like tap his foot under the table.

Grover had already become his answer-buddy, so he mouthed to him. Sadly, he only understood part of what he was saying.

"Um, they break up protein and stuff..." Any teacher would be just the slightest bit satisfied with that, or they would help the student, but not her. She sneered, but didn't say anything else.

He went back to whispering to Grover, who wasn't interested in the lesson anyway. They chatted about everything, until the teacher called everyone over for a demonstration of some sort.

Bobofit had stood next to them in the front, malice in her eyes. She was plotting something. Percy ignored it, for now.

"Nancy, please bring some water from the counter." Oh, he saw this one coming from a mile away. Nancy always held grudges. He should've known that his actions would cause _this. _

A beaker of water (wasn't this Food Tech, not science?) was being handled recklessly by Bobofit. She pretended to slip, the water about to splash Percy. He was too slow to dodge, despite seeing this coming.

A second had passed, and Percy was not drenched in water. The same could not be said for Nancy Bobofit. Although physics forbade it, she was drenched head to toe in water. There wasn't even that much water.

The entire class had shocked expressions on their faces, but their stupid brains already started substituting what really happened to fit their perception of things.

Grover, however, was a different kind of shocked. Unlike everyone else, he didn't look surprised that Nancy was drenched in water but the beaker only carried 250ml. He seemed to believe everything fully.

The bell chose that moment to ring. Most people rushed out of class, leaving poor Nancy soaked. Even the teacher. She cursed at them, but they paid her no attention. Percy and Grover left too, Percy taunting Nancy a little.

"Percy, did you ever do that before?" Grover asked him, and he really didn't expect that. He expected 'how did you do that' or 'did you do anything'. And in truth, he didn't want to say.

Part of him wanted to casually say _Yep, I can control water _but he knew it would be stupid. Plus, why would Grover even believe him? He guessed he couldn't just lie to him though, friend or not.

"...Yes." A sigh escaped Grover's mouth. He seemed to believe Percy, much to his surprise. Grover was probably buzzing with questions, but he only needed one question answered.

"Can you control water?" A nod. Another sigh, as if he was tired of bullish*t or something. Grover prompted Percy to meet up with him after school, and then ran off to his next lesson.

The day had went super fast, much to his dismay. He had no lessons with Grover. Percy had one with Luke, but the teacher seated him far away from him. He doubted Luke liked him much anyway.

And the day was over already. He would normally want school to go by fast, but not today.

So he found himself standing by the fountain (which was pretty much always deserted) with Grover, Luke and Annabeth staring him down.

"Percy, show them what you can do!" Grover kept urging Percy to show off his 'power'. So he did. It was just a little wave in the serene fountain water, but their faces morphed into an expression of shock.

He didn't know why he let out such a huge secret to people he barely knew, but they didn't seem like the tattletale type. Percy hoped they would keep this secret.

Annabeth perked up. "You're one of us!" That had earned a gasp from Percy. There were others like him? They could control water too?

"You can control water too?" He didn't know what he expected, but Annabeth shook her head. He relaxed for a second, only to see a small flame dancing in Annabeth's palm.

"No. I can control fire. Luke controls air, and Grover controls earth. The four elements." Percy couldn't believe it. All sorts of emotions where whizzing through his mind: anger, confusion, shock.

Who are these people? Why didn't his mother tell him about this? Where did he get these powers from? How-

Annabeth caught on to the confused look. "I'm sure you have loads of questions, but we can't answer them all right now. We'll try our best to answer them." He wanted to yell at her for answers _now _but knew that yelling was stupid.

Percy just sighed, glaring at the three. "Answers. Tomorrow. After school." And he turned away, not bothering to look back, all machistically.

He hated to get home, back to _Gabe, _but he knew that if he didn't get home soon, Gabe would be angry. Angry Gabe wasn't fun. He never dared lay a finger on Percy, but to his mother...he hoped not.

He didn't understand why she stayed with him. Gabe was selfish, _smelly, _stupid, ugly and Sally deserved a lot better. She deserved to marry a nice guy who treats her well and can give her everything.

Gabe would suffer one day. He swore on it.

Every step home was pure agony, going back to Gabe. It would normally take around 10 minutes to get home, but _of course _it only took 5 when his mum wasn't home but Gabe was.

He stepped inside quietly, careful not to wake Gabe, who was shamelessly napping (probably passed out) on the couch. He was a heavy sleeper, but you couldn't be too careful.

Surprisingly, Gabe didn't have his 'friends' for Poker or Snooker over. He spent all of his mother's money on alcohol and bets, so they were miles deep in-debt.

His room was chaotic, clothes strewn all over the floor, books sprawled across his desk, bed untidy. Why bother tidying up if Gabe was just going to mess up it to find his 'missing socks'? Maybe Percy could nap too.

**-6 hours later- **

It wasn't really a nap, but it was good. He didn't get much sleep nowadays, so it was much needed. Gabe had apparently woke up, just to faint again from drinking too much. Great, an alcoholic step-dad.

It was 9:39 exactly. His mum wasn't back until 12am. And Gabe would be unconscious for another 2 hours. Percy considered the idea of going for a walk late at night where he might get mugged.

Oh well. You can't get mugged if you don't have anything. Plus, Percy had done it plenty of times. It wasn't a safe neighbourhood, but who cared? It was a roof over his head.

So he found himself walking on stone cold pavements, listening to the sounds of the night: silence. It cleared his head, distracted him from his sh*tty life, if only for a second.

The stars illuminated above him, as if everything was okay. But it wasn't. Percy could hear the distant laughs of thugs and gangs nearby, and that's how he knew it just wasn't okay.

He decided he would stretch this walk a little further, away from the gangs (sort of). His mum wouldn't be back for while anyway.

So he began his hike towards the park. Kids would go there to play, but he doubted that anyone would be there at 10pm. The park never really closed anyway. It was also the only place safe from gangs. Usually.

The playground activities seemed to fit in the night, with rusted iron and graffiti all over them. Vandalism? No one really saw it that way, and no one was bothered enough.

Percy was wrong when he thought there would be no one at the park. A humanoid figure leaned against the railing, the only thing separating them from falling into the lake.

He considered the possibility that they were a mannequin, and vetoed the idea when long hair started flying in the wind. It was too dark to see them, but they were obviously female.

Without a second thought, he stood behind her, overlooking the view. The moon shone nicely on the water, with ducks and a few swans still swimming around.

"What a nice view." He spoke, because he just couldn't bear silence. The girl nodded, not breaking her gaze. Her hair, which he could now make out as light-coloured still flew in the wind.

Percy could get a much closer look at her now. He took a better look at her in the night than in the daytime. It was Annabeth.

Her grey eyes were much more visible in the night, practically glowing with determination and intelligence. Her hair-blonde- was long and curly, though she probably didn't care much.

Maybe it was his teenage self talking, and it was all hormones, but Annabeth was actually really pretty. He couldn't believe he hadn't noticed before. She looked great in the blue light.

"You ought to stop staring." She still didn't break her gaze from the water. It was almost intimidating. He faced the water too, a slight red tint on his cheeks. At least she couldn't see it.

"Um, so, what are you doing here?" At first, she didn't reply. But then, she met Percy's eyes, and shrugged. He understood. He didn't know either.

"It's a nice place I guess. Found it today. No thugs. Helps me relax." Annabeth sighed, turning back to the water.

They just stood in a comfortable silence for a while. Maybe it was stupid for Percy to just stare at the lake not even talking to the girl next to him, but it sort of calmed him, silly as it sounds.

Later, Annabeth left, bidding him farewell, promising to answer all his questions after school.

He just stood there thinking for another 10 minutes, thinking about how horrible life was. Percy wondered what he did wrong in his previous life to deserve this.

But he swore his mother and him would get out of this mess one day. Whatever it took, he was going to live a much better life. He was determined.

He left soon after. His dark blue hoodie helped him blend in with the night. Percy had his head bowed down, eyes fixated on the pavement.

Gabe was still passed out on the couch, his horrid stink contaminating the room. Did this guy even know what a bath was? No wonder the bathroom was the only okay-smelling place in the house, ironically.

It was 10:30. He had been walking for almost an hour. His mum would be back in an hour and a half, she had told him not to stay up for her. Percy hoped Gabe would still be passed out or asleep by then.

He slept peacefully, with no dreams or worry.


	6. V

Annabeth's eyes fluttered open to Luke's face hovering above hers, an annoyed expression on his face.

"Oh, good. You're awake. It's 6:55! I _told_ you not to go walking late at night, but did you listen?" He dragged the blankets off her, which earned a groan from Annabeth.

She hauled herself out of bed, black circles under her eyes. Last night, horrifying thoughts had plagued her dreams. But she'd have to deal with it. She couldn't skip on the second day.

Annabeth waved Luke off. He huffed, running off to get ready too. It would be a tiring, awfully long day.

**-30 minutes later- **

A bagel was stuffed in Annabeth's mouth as she locked the door to their apartment. Yeah, they managed to afford an apartment in New York. It was nice, but they did have to work part-time jobs.

Annabeth was a tutor, Luke worked as a trainer at the gym (and a thief, but that wasn't relevant) and Grover was an assistant at a laser tag place. They all had flexible hours, so Annabeth wasn't complaining. Tutoring was fun, even.

Having two other roommates enabled them to have a nice apartment for a pretty good price. Their apartment was on the 7th floor, with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a kitchen. She couldn't believe their luck.

School wasn't far either. It was about a 15 minute walk, so they'd have about 10 minutes to spare. Life seemed to finally be getting better. It would probably come crashing down later, but you should enjoy it while you can.

She caught up with Luke and Grover, who were discussing football (or soccer, as Americans would call it). Annabeth was glad they were being so normal.

Annabeth still had the bagel stuffed in her mouth, so she couldn't interfere in their ranting. She jogged ahead of them, munching on the bagel, but didn't seem to mind.

She had worn Nike trainers specifically for these situations: jogging ahead of the two. Though, ripped jeans and a tank top didn't exactly help. She wore a red jacket and a dark blue backpack was slung over a shoulder.

Grover had worn brown khakis, a camo shirt, red trainers and a Rasta cap. It didn't really go, but it was clothes and better than nothing.

Luke, meanwhile, just wore a white shirt, pants and black trainers. His sandy hair was gelled back. He looked like a goody-two-shoes, which was kind of ironic. Apparently, it was to set a good impression on people.

It was summer, and Luke's professional thievery bought them nice stuff. Annabeth had broke into a run, and this time, Luke ran after her, with Grover too engrossed in his chocolate.

She had finished her bagel, and after she noticed Luke running right behind her, it was practically a game of tag. She was always a lot faster than him though. Annabeth hoped to join the track team, as tryouts were today.

They played little games quite often. Never got the chance as children, so why not now? Annabeth seemed to win most board games anyway, so Luke and Grover preferred those games.

They had reached school in about 7 minutes with that speed, half their usual time. The three of them were laughing so hard everyone was staring, either in envy or out of second-hand embarrassment.

Luke, somehow, managed to catch up to Annabeth, wrapping his arms around her waist and picking her up. Grover, in the distance, finished off his chocolate bar-aka his breakfast- and caught up to them, rolling his eyes. Man, why couldn't Luke pick _him _up and give him a lift?

Luke set her down, swinging his arms around Grover and Annabeth. Everyone was bustling about, separating off into their groups. They walked around with almost 15 minutes to spare.

**-After school-**

Luke and Grover had to answer to the fury of Percy Jackson, whom, admittedly, Annabeth could tolerate. She, however, would be attending track team tryouts.

Annabeth was sure she could get in easily, not to brag or anything, but she was a really good runner. Considering she spent years on the run and all. She had won many races, and felt like running again.

Plus, she may need to retain her athletic ability, should she ever need it. And she wanted to engage more in school activities. What better way to do that than to join track team?

This time, she actually bothered getting changed, aside from her trainers. She figured she would probably sweat a bit, unlike that dodgeball game. Her outfit wasn't anything impressive, but it was comfortable.

Quite a few other people wanted to join too. She could hear about 30 kids talking amongst themselves. That was probably a disadvantage. She knew no one, and they all knew each other.

Annabeth assured herself she'd be fine. About 5 older kids (probably in charge of selecting who to pick for the team) eyed certain students who they may or may not see fit to join.

A lanky older boy, with green eyes and dishevelled dark hair, eyed Annabeth. Normally, she would feel uncomfortable, but she didn't this time. She didn't get odd vibes from him.

He smiled at her, giving her an encouraging smile, and went back to glaring at some other kids. She didn't know nor care how he could judge just by looks, because truthfully, she didn't look like much.

An older girl stepped aside, "Alright everyone, warm up by doing a little jog!" Annabeth knew that 'a little jog' would help assess the fast and agile from the slower. It may even determine.

So she lightly ran a few laps around the field. She was one of the fastest, but she knew that running really did depend on stamina more. Annabeth wasn't sweating excessively after finishing 3 laps, but she wasn't smiling either.

The green-eyed senior held his hand up for attention after everyone had lined up, panting and heaving. Annabeth and a few other kids however, were completely fine.

She was sure she would make it. The idea excited her. She never got the chance to be in an actual team before, especially a high school one. Maybe she'd even be popular. If they didn't move again, that was.

The boy had commanded everyone to go again, for real this time, much to everyone's displeasure. He blew a whistle and everyone had took off, Annabeth making sure not to go too fast at first.

She loved running. The wind blowing in her hair, the ground below her zooming by. It was almost as if she was running from her problems. At the same time, she was facing her problems by running away.

At first, she had blended in with the huge crowd, laughing silently at the ones in the front. But slowly, she crept up to first place, so people barely noticed until she was about ten metres away from everybody else.

Halfway through the first lap, a mean-looking kid caught up to her. She sensed what he was trying to do immediately: he was trying to trip her up. Of course, she was right.

When his foot, oh so innocently, came in front of hers to trip her up, she had intentionally tripped, just to front-flip into his way, giving him a sly wink. The second lap came to an end, and she decided to show off a little bit, running at full speed.

The boy looked at her in awe, slowing down for a second, but then trying desperately to beat her. His stamina had run out, however. Annabeth could've laughed at him, but knew to just ignore it. She didn't have time to waste.

Annabeth had ended first. For once, she was grateful to the years on the run. She was panting and out of breath, but happy nonetheless. She stepped aside, fixing her laces, which had come undone.

She may have legitimately tripped if it weren't for that guy trying to trip her up. Maybe he saw the opportunity and took it, only he wasn't discreet enough. He was still a bad sport.

The green-eyed senior approached her, smiling at her again.

"Well done, Chase. You've made the team, and proved you're a good sport." She raised an eyebrow.

"That was a race?" He nodded, writing something down on a clipboard, eyes now fixated on the others who were still running.

"Yep. We didn't say, because," He pointed to the guy who tried to trip her up, "we figured there would be certain people who would try and play dirty. Nice evasion, by the way. There's one more activity before you can go."

Annabeth thanked him, pulling herself up, setting her water down. Most people had finished, and the ones who weren't couldn't participate in the next activity.

It was harsh, but Annabeth heard that Goode had great teams, and was the best option for athletic students. They couldn't risk their reputation by being nice and encouraging. She understood that.

The next activity was relay. She was put into a group with 3 other kids and they were handed some sort of stick.

**In case people don't know what relay is: it's a track-and-field sports game in athletics. There are usually four members. They're handed a baton (or a stick). There's a track for racing. One runner is at the beginning, along with the other teams, stick in hand. The other three are at different sections of the track (along with the other runners), one at the section before the finish line. A whistle is blown, and the first runners race to hand the second player the stick (can't drop it or they're disqualified/ have to try hard to catch up). As soon as the second player gets the stick, they run to the third. The third runs to the last player. The last player runs to the finishing line. Whichever team gets to the finish wins. _Sorry, that was such a long explanation. _**

An older girl quickly explained the rules. Annabeth was strategically placed at the beginning, to give them a bit of a head start. Her team members seemed a little salty she had come first, but at least they weren't rude about it.

She had stood right next to the guy who tried to trip her up. Annabeth felt some sort of rivalry between them stirring up, because she really wanted to win against him. She almost wanted to humiliate him.

The girl blew the whistle, and she was off. The boy was desperately trying to keep up with her, and unfortunately, he succeeded. Unfortunately for him, they had only begun, and she was not going full speed yet.

She was about three quarters of the way to the second player, and then she decided to use up every bit of her stamina. She went faster than she ever went, her legs working in overdrive.

She was running at almost 20mph, faster than she thought she could go. Annabeth was determined to make her team win. She was _not _going to lose. And she _was _going to join the team, lead the thing one day.

She handed the stick to the next player, who immediately started running. She had totally used up every bit of her stamina. Annabeth was panting and gasping for breath, sweat beading down her forehead.

Everyone else were still a bit behind, but someone had beaten the mean-looking dude and joined her a minute later. The girl looked a little in awe, striking up a conversation with Annabeth.

"You're so fast! You're definitely making the team." Annabeth smiled, accepting the compliment and complimenting her back. They didn't have to do anything, so she just chatted to the girl, eyeing the race.

She was a little disappointed, because her team members slacked off a bit, but she knew she did all she could. The five older kids called everyone over to announce the team members.

A blue-eyed senior held a clipboard, gesturing for silence. She commented on everyone's performance, not bothering to hold back the nasty comments, until she got to Annabeth.

"Annabeth Chase. You've made the team. You're fast, agile and would be a great asset. Well done." There was no emotion in her voice, but Annabeth was pretty happy.

What got her even happier is learning that the guy who tried to trip her up didn't get in, for being a bad sport. There were very limited spaces on the team anyway.

"Alright, you're dismissed," the girl called out after she had read off the last name, "go get changed now." Everyone hurried off to the changing rooms, with either a disappointed or a happy expression on their face.

In that moment, Annabeth decided she would join more activities. She liked the feeling of being looked upon, admired. This time, she would put her athleticism to use.

She stepped out of the changing rooms to be met with Luke and Grover, with Percy trailing behind them. He looked a lot more relaxed and less confused.

Luke tackled her in a hug, barely giving her room to breathe. "You aced the tryouts! I'm so proud of you. We were watching from afar." She hugged back, wrapping her arms around him, grinning mildly.

He let go after a brief ten seconds, realising it was awkward for Grover and Percy. Annabeth gave Percy a small smile, asking him if he had all his questions answered. He nodded, to her relief.

"I'm still not over being able to control an element but thanks for answering all my questions. I guess I owe you one." After that statement, he walked off. She really didn't understand him sometimes.

Luke turned to her again. "Anyway, for that outstanding performance, we're treating you to something!" Her face contorted into an expression of shock.

"I can't ask that of you, Luke. It's totally fine. I joined the team, which is what I wanted." But he would have none of it. "There's a carnival today. I want to take you and Grover."

She simply smiled, giving in. "Come on then. Let's get out of here."

**-4 hours later-**

It was 7:30pm, and the three were at a carnival eating candy floss and playing carnival games. Grover was currently winning at shooting ducks, Annabeth won at hacky sack (she was unbelievable, bouncing the apple on her goddam back) and Luke was failing epically.

They decided to enter some maze together, betting how fast they'd escape. Except well, the maze had some unexpected horrors. It was a puzzle, a puzzle that Annabeth tried desperately to solve.

Luke and Grover, however, just followed Annabeth or went wherever there wasn't a dead end. It ended up being a pretty tough maze, so tough that Annabeth started to doubt an exit.

It turned out that there was even bigger horror than the ones she didn't expect. Right when she thought she had successfully got to the centre of the maze, an entire SWAT team was in front of her, guns pointing at their heads.


	7. VI

**A/N: I just got kinda bored of following a pattern of Annabeth, Grover, Luke then Percy so I just decided to do whoever I preferred in a random order, maybe switching perspectives throughout the chapter. I might do 1st person too. **

Annabeth

Her eyes were wide with shock. She was still as ice, eyes fixed on the SWAT team in front of her. Questions were buzzing through her mind, but she knew that there was no time for all that. She also knew that there was no way out of this.

None of this made sense. How did they find them when they were in a different continent? Why had they been found out now? And how were they going to get out of this?

Annabeth's first thought was to run away and not look back. Her second was to try and fight, to which she almost cursed her idiocy. But her third, it was to give in. She hated that.

But the SWAT team did not yell at them, or command them to put their hands up. They lowered their weaponry, taking on a less threatening posture. Fear was mildly replaced by confusion.

One person, fully geared, approached Luke, assessing him. "Hello, young man. We would like to ask you and your friends a few questions. We're looking for someone who's _missing."_

She wondered who this 'missing' person was to cause so much ruckus simply for being missing. Maybe they weren't actually missing, but causing trouble.

Or the police weren't looking for a missing person at all. Perhaps they were looking for them, and luring them into interrogation that was really an arrest. She couldn't even see their face, after all.

"Have you seen a masked female? They're running around causing trouble." The three shook their head, hoping that that was this guy's only question. He noted something down.

"So, what school do you all go to?" Annabeth felt her heart race with worry the more questions he asked. Luke answered for them. The mjjan kept asking them questions, to which they replied vaguely.

He finally let them go, and they walked off to their apartment. They couldn't have fun after that. Luke planned to call a cab, but for some reason, he decided against it. It was about a 30-minute walk.

**-15 minutes later-**

They were halfway there when a life-changed moment occurred. They were on some unknown street when Annabeth knew that her life would never be the same.

A girl, masked, was sprinting when she ran into them. She was going at full speed, as if running away from someone. She had on a black skeleton mask.

Her hair was black with dark blue highlights. The girl seemed to be in a rush, but Annabeth wouldn't let her go without answers. She recognised her as the girl who the police were looking for.

That was not what surprised her the most. What surprised her the most were little zaps of electricity- _lightning- _surrounding the girl. Annabeth felt like her entire life was a lie.

Of course, she had read about this. How lightning could be considered an element. She read the books on mythology, scoured the library for answers. Yet, why was she so surprised?

She also read about metal, wood and ether being elements. There were plenty of others. Did that mean that they weren't the only ones? Relief and dread flooded through Annabeth in those moments.

The girl ran off, not bothering to apologise. Annabeth glanced at Luke and Grover, who were unaware of everything. She then attempted to chase after the girl.

**Get it? CHASE after the girl? **

The girl seemed to notice Annabeth trailing just behind her, and so sped up. She was unbelievably fast, so it proved challenging to Annabeth. Finally, she leaped towards the girl, whose eyes widened in shock.

She had tackled her to the ground. The girl attempted to shrug Annabeth off, but she held on. She went for a punch towards Annabeth's face, but she managed to evade her strike just in time.

After a bit of struggling, the girl gave up. Annabeth stood up, keeping an eye on the girl. She didn't know what to say.

"Can you control lightning?" The question had slipped off her tongue quicker than she could've thought it. She wasn't surprised to see that the girl nodded.

She had to brief someone else on the whole Elemental thing, twice in a week. The girl didn't seem surprised, knowing even. She seemed to be taking this well, almost too well.

The girl took off her mask, revealing a pale face, a freckled nose and burning electric blue eyes. She was pretty in a metal sort of way. The girl seemed slightly familiar, but Annabeth couldn't place where.

"My name is Thalia. Thalia Grace." She stuck a leather-gloved hand out. Annabeth shook it reluctantly. She didn't know what to do or say next, but she could tell that this girl probably didn't have a family.

"So, do you have any family?" Thalia growled at that. She shook her head, although Annabeth got the feeling she was hiding something. They all were really. She didn't push her.

"You three are runaways." It was such a blunt statement. Thalia didn't seem to care much. She didn't seem to care much for anything. Was it that obvious?

Thalia then uttered an even blunter question, "Mind if I join you?" In truth, Annabeth didn't care whether she joined or not. Maybe Luke and Grover might, but personally, it would feel good to have another girl.

As long as she chipped in and contributed towards their survival, she was fine with it. Annabeth gave her a shrug, imitating Thalia's careless self, not that it was a bad thing.

"Follow me, and Grover and Luke can decide." She turned back towards Luke and Grover, breaking into a slight jog. They had come quite far running. She didn't check to see if Thalia was following or not.

Grover and Luke were standing exactly where they were before, looking a little tense. They both were eyeing Thalia like cats at a mouse. She glared back. Annabeth glared at the two, urging them to stop.

"This is Thalia. She got lightning powers." Luke feigned surprise, but Grover was really shocked, which made Annabeth think twice. Had Luke known about this all along? She didn't confront him.

"That's another element? How many elements are there?" _Good question, Grover. Too bad I don't have the answer. _Annabeth wished she knew, but only time could tell. Maybe there were hundreds more.

"Anyway, I want to join you." Annabeth figured out the hard way that Thalia was extremely blunt and reckless. Luke looked appalled, though she couldn't figure out why. He didn't even talk to Thalia.

He spoke a bit too coldly for Annabeth's liking, "Okay, but you can't just say you want to join us and join like that. You need to contribute, enroll in our school-"

"Luke, we'll figure that out _later. _This is someone like us, who needs our help. Let's let her join." Annabeth couldn't help but interrupt. This was really unlike Luke. He sighed, giving in.

Grover piped up, "I don't mind really. The more, the merrier." Thalia glanced at Grover and nodded appreciatively. Annabeth could tell immediately that Grover and Thalia were going to be friends.

"It's settled then. Thalia, follow us to our apartment." She turned away, walking at a faster pace than normal. Grover had jogged up to her, asking her if she was okay.

"Yeah, it's just been a stressful day. Well, a stressful life." Annabeth felt silly for complaining, especially since the move from Britain to New York. But the amount of stress and worry in this day was ridiculous.

The one highlight was track team try-outs. Except it still felt like everyone detested her, no matter her academic and athletic status. She didn't expect it to be this tough being the new kid.

Grover put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it in a comforting manner. Annabeth seriously loved Grover and his sweet nature at times. She gave him a worn out smile, and he hugged her. She hugged back.

Luke and Thalia were trailing behind them, a good metre apart. Somehow, Thalia had got her hands on bubblegum and was chewing and blowing vigorously. Luke rolled his eyes at that.

They had reached their apartment. Thalia seemed impressed that a bunch of teens managed to gather the cash for an apartment. It turned out she had her own apartment, courtesy of her rich dad. She wouldn't live with them or even talk to them, but if they moved, she would tag along.

It also turned out that Thalia already went to Goode, she just didn't show up often, claiming it was a waste of time. Apparently, she got suspended. Annabeth didn't really blame her.

**-Days later, weekend-**

Grover

Internally, Grover was screaming 'sh*t, sh*t, sh*t'. He kept his cool the best he could, trying not to panic or yell out absurd things. He was mostly shocked, and a little disappointed.

In truth, he had thought only four elements had existed. Then, another one just appears out of the blue. Of course, they didn't know much about the elements, but he didn't think there were more than four.

He also felt wary of Thalia. Grover didn't want to be rude, but he felt that she couldn't just join them so naturally. It had been the three of them for a couple years now, and he didn't feel like accepting anyone new.

Percy was different. He only had to explain stuff to him, understandably, and he wasn't blunt like Thalia, but caring. And he wasn't going to join them on their ever-lasting run.

Maybe Thalia would grow on him. A small part of him tried to reassure himself that maybe their run had finally ended or came close to ending, but he knew better-

"Grover!" Annabeth had came barging into his room, a panicked expression on her face and smoke coming from her hands. She brought along a burning smell.

"I accidentally burned breakfast." Grover sighed, standing up and making his way to the kitchen, only to find the burning smell had stopped, and a composed Luke silently flipping pancakes.

When did he get here so quick? Annabeth seems to be wondering the same thing. They both ignored it for the time being, as Luke handed them both a plate of pancakes, drizzled with maple syrup.

"I need to talk to you."


	8. VII

Grover

"I need to talk to you." His tone had made them both quite uncomfortable, but they listened nonetheless. Grover stabbed at his pancakes, not meeting Luke's eyes.

Luke had put on his saddest expression, letting out a sigh and starting to talk.

"I'm really sick of this. I hate running away from all our problems. I want to fight back: fight the government. I don't _want _to live in secrecy anymore."

Grover and Annabeth both didn't talk, but the atmosphere had turned gloomy. Grover wanted to speak up, but he wasn't sure whether he agreed or not, and even if he was, the words wouldn't come out. Annabeth spoke up instead.

"And what do you suggest we do?" But she knew exactly what Luke was implying. She just didn't want to admit it. Luke too knew she knew.

"I know this guy who's in this ga- I mean, _this organisation _and this organisation is trying to take down the government. I want to join them. I want to get revenge on the government for all this."

Bile built up in Grover's throat. His vision tunnelled in shock. He set aside the plate before he dropped it, leaning against the wall in disbelief. It suddenly all made perfect sense.

He always wondered how Luke had managed to get first class tickets for a cruise in such short notice. How had he slipped past security? How had he enrolled them in school?

Now, it made perfect sense. Luke didn't want to join this _gang_. He had already joined them. He had been conspiring against the government behind their backs.

Annabeth had froze, and Grover knew that she had realised too. Luke was unable to meet their eyes. He looked down instead.

"How long, Luke?" Grover had finally managed to croak out, through a myriad of tears. He needed to know how long he had been doing this. Annabeth's face had taken on a heartbroken expression, begging to know, too.

Luke had finally met their eyes with a broken glint in his eyes. Seeing his lips part in reply made Grover want to cry.

"A year."

That was all Annabeth needed to storm out, grabbing her coat without a single tear. This left Grover alone with Luke.

"Why, Luke? Why did you do this? Couldn't you have told us?" Luke sighed, stepping up to Grover, meeting eyes.

"I couldn't handle it anymore. I want to fight them. They deprived us of everything. We were just kids, Grover. I knew you wouldn't join me, so I kept this secret. I want to be normal."

"You don't get it, do you? You won't ever be _normal_ if you're constantly trying to eradicate the government! You're going to _die_, Luke! I don't want to see you die!" And it was true. If Luke died, Grover wouldn't know what to do.

"Then if I die, everyone else can live peacefully! We're going to die either way! Better me than you. I'm going to do this whether you join me or not. But please, Grover..."

Annabeth 1st Person

All I did was run. Run away from my problems again. That's all I seemed to do. I ran somewhere, anywhere. I didn't care if I got lost. I tripped a couple times, but again, I didn't care.

My knees were bleeding, I was running in my pyjamas, and people were staring. But I kept running, because I didn't care whether I got hurt or not.

My legs started tiring, and my breath was running out, but I couldn't stop. I ran faster than I ever ran. I wasn't thinking about where I was going. My legs were taking me somewhere unknown.

I ended up in a park. It was the same park I visited a few nights ago. It probably wasn't a popular place, because it was deserted, even at 12pm. But there was one other person: Percy.

He turned around to the sound of my running.

"Annabeth?! Are you-" I couldn't handle it anymore. I burst into tears.

Grover

He shook his head vigorously. No. He wasn't going to join Luke, and that answer was final. Grover couldn't risk it all more than he was to rid the world of a tyrannical rule.

Luke could play hero all he wanted, but Grover and Annabeth weren't going to join him. At least, he hoped Annabeth wouldn't join him. He knew that Luke was destined to die if he failed, probably murdered by this gang.

Grover wanted to get rid of the government, but joining forces with a gang? His answer was no.

"No, Luke. I wish you the best of luck, but I'm not joining. You can try and convince Annabeth. But I think she has made her decision quite clear. Try to stay alive as long as you can."

Luke gave him a small, heartbroken smile. Grover returned it. He nodded, walking briskly towards the door. Before he exited, he spoke one sentence.

"I hope to see you and Annabeth again."

Annabeth

Eight years. It had been eight years since I last cried. I would have to start counting again. Pathetic. I was utterly pathetic. I had went eight fucking years without a single tear.

Yet I was now bawling my eyes out because of a boy, in the arms of another boy whom I only knew for a week at most. I knew that I would cry at one point or another, but this was unpredictable.

Percy had wrapped his arms around me, rubbing circles on my back in a soothing manner. He seemed to be good at the whole consoling thing. Later, I would thank him for this.

About 7 minutes had passed, and Percy hadn't wavered from the hugging position. Until he noticed my bleeding knees. His eyes widened, and he gave me a shocked look.

"I don't carry bandages, but my mum could help you out. If you want to come that is, you don't have to." I was surprised by this boy's kindness. All my life, I was only surrounded by those desperate to survive, there was no room for kindness.

I didn't want to take advantage of Percy's kindness, but I also didn't want to go home to Grover and Luke. Not yet. So I took his offer. It was about a two-minute walk.

Before Percy opened the front door, he spoke quietly, "It's not much, and I'm sorry about Gabe, but I want you to get your knees bandaged up. Just ignore Gabe, he won't hurt you."

I nodded, wondering who Gabe was and why he seemed like such a dick. Percy unlocked the door. I followed. His house wasn't as bad as he claimed, it was cozy, but small.

"Percy?" A kindly voice called out. A woman emerged from the kitchen, smiling. Percy briefly hugged her, who I assumed was his mother.

"Hi, mum. You're back! This is Annabeth, a friend of mine. Her knees are bleeding so I invited her over." The woman flashed me the warmest smile I had ever seen, and shook my hand.

"Hello, Annabeth. It's very nice to meet you! I'll get your knees bandaged right away. Call me Sally." Sally had such a nice energy, I liked her straight away.

"Take a seat, dear." I plopped myself down on the couch, and Sally brought some medicine and bandages. I wondered why she had so many medicinal supplies in the first place.

Sally tried to get rid of the bleeding, and started asking me questions, "So, Annabeth, do you go to school with Percy? What's your favourite subject?"

"Oh, yes. We attend school together. I love all subjects, especially maths, science and P.E." I could faintly hear Percy muttering 'only the worst ones'. Sadly for him, I had good hearing.

"Oh wow! You sound super smart. How is school going for you, Annabeth?" Sally continued trying to stir up conversation, which made me like her more and more.

"Oh thank you! It's going fine. Some people are really nice, and others, not so much. I was actually, uh, _homeschooled-_"

"It's fine, you can tell her. She'll believe you." Percy abruptly interrupted me, but I didn't really mind. I decided to trust him, and told Sally everything. I trusted her. She listened patiently, and believed us.

Sally had finished up bandaging my knees, which were already feeling better. I thanked Sally and Percy, giving him a little hug as a thank you, and trudged off, wishing them well.

**\- 10 minutes later - **

I was ready to go back to Luke and Grover, to talk it out with Luke in a calmer manner. Except he wasn't there. Just Grover making some pancakes. He turned around, giving me a small smile and handing me the plate.

"You're back. Luke isn't coming back, by the way. Don't worry, we'll see him soon." I knitted my eyebrows in confusion. He was so calm about his best friend never coming back.

Grover didn't need to hide the truth from me. I knew, deep down, that Luke probably wasn't coming back. And if he was, it would sure as Hell not be a friendly visit.

So that was the end of our little trio. Funny enough, I knew that we'd break up eventually. It's just that I thought it would happen when we were older, perhaps when the government didn't view us as monsters.

"Are we going to school tomorrow? I understand that you might be a bit stressed." Grover was still his same caring self, but something seemed different somehow. He lost his energy. I hoped he'd recover.

"Yes. Well, I am. I'm not skipping because of a bit of stress. We haven't been there a week." I sure as Hell wouldn't let a bit of stress distract me from me from what's important.

Grover shrugged emotionlessly, "Right. Well, do you want to play a board game?"

Chess. I always beat Grover in chess, but this time, I thought I'd let him win. Normally, we would play a multiplayer game, but that wasn't possible without a third player.

I put zero effort into it. So did Grover. We weren't involved in the game like we usually were. It wasn't a board game for us, more like time to think about everything.

We played for roughly an hour, until the doorbell rang. I told Grover that I would get it. I really hoped it wasn't a marketing salesman or anything. It wasn't. I wasn't sure if I preferred the salesman after I opened the door.

Thalia Grace was standing outside my door, looking worse than ever.


	9. IIX

Annabeth

Thalia Grace was standing outside my door, looking worse than ever.

Her body was doubled over, littered in cuts, she probably broke some bones, her face was deathly pale, purple-ish bruises were all over her skin, she was pretty much half dead. As soon as I opened the door, she collapsed in my arms.

"Sh*t! Grover, help me out!" Grover came running from his bedroom. He had a panicked expression on his face. I set Thalia's unconscious body on the couch, telling him to watch her.

I grabbed a bunch of medical supplies we had in a cabinet and hurriedly began bandaging her up. The ointment did wonders for her numerous cuts, but she had so many she would've used up a full tube, and we only had some left.

"We'll worry about the ointment later. Some body parts are dislocated. And we need to set her bones straight. If they grow back in the wrong place, that can be troublesome." Grover took the liberty of relocating her dislocated shoulder. At least she was unconscious.

Thankfully, Grover recalled first aid perfectly. This wasn't a matter for first aid, but we did the best we could. I hated that a hospital would be no option for us, since Thalia was pretty much a wanted criminal. Stupid Thalia.

"What are we going to do? We can't do sh*t, but we can't go to a hospital either." Grover finished relocating her body parts, and turned to face me with a worried look. He bit his lip nervously, almost drawing blood.

"We just have to do the best we can and hope she's okay, but she'll survive. I don't think there's anything we can do." I sighed, rubbing my temples. I glanced at unconscious Thalia, who was just barely breathing. I hope she made it out alive.

"You go take a nap, I'll watch her. You should get some rest." I told Grover. He gave me a sideways glance, but agreed, stepping off into his bedroom, hopefully to take a nap.

So I just sat beside Thalia, listening to her breathing and thinking about random things. Almost an hour had passed, so I decided to read a book. I picked up _Lord of the Flies _by William Golding and began reading.

She was fine, now breathing normally. I highly doubted she even needed watching, but just in case, I stayed by her side. Thalia seemed to get into this kind of trouble a lot, so I hoped she'd be fine. I would question her about it later.

"Annabeth?" Grover had approached me from behind, He just woke up. Grover rubbed his eyes, "Your turn to go take a nap or something. I'll watch Thalia. You go ahead." I didn't protest, nodding and going to my bedroom.

The day was tiring, so I decided to take a nap too. I changed into my pyjamas. It wasn't hard falling asleep. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was asleep, snoring, not dreaming at all.

**-1 hour later- **

I had slept for almost an hour when I woke up. Grover was shaking me awake, yelling at me to get up. "Thalia's bleeding! Her cuts are reopening for whatever reason! You need to go get medicine at the local pharmacy _quick_!"

My eyes widened to large ovals in panic. I swung the blanket off me, grabbing my beige coat and legging it to the nearest pharmacy I knew. I couldn't let Thalia bleed out. Not after our hard work.

I grabbed a few dollars I had in my coat pocket, snatching bandages, ointment and some other stuff, smacking the notes down on the counter. I rushed, except I had to grab the change of 10 cents. I was broke.

I had to go through a small alleyway to get back to our apartment. It was only 3pm, so I didn't expect any gang run-ins, even though it was incredibly dark, as if it was 8pm instead.

I ran into something way worse than a gang. Despite the noise my trainers made, they didn't seem to notice me. I didn't take it as a big deal, except...

Luke was standing there, talking to who I assumed was another member. This other member unsettled me, with deep cuts and burn marks all over his face. Then again, Luke was unsettling. I hadn't noticed it, because Luke was my best friend, but I could see it now.

He blabbed something to the man, who was scary and grossly muscular. Maybe he was about 35, had lots of tattoos, a bald head and millions of weapons from guns to machetes. Their conversation was barely audible, but I had good ears.

"So, how did the recruiting go?" The man spoke in a devious tone, with a low, raucous voice. Despite the cold, he wore a shirt that was ripped at the sleeves. I imagined someone like him, ripping something a lot more brutal than sleeves off someone. The thought frightened me.

"They didn't join. It's fine. I can do this without them. I'm more than capable." Luke replied. I figured that listening in wouldn't really give me any answers, and Thalia was bleeding out without these bandages. Still, I couldn't avert my gaze.

I had a feeling he was talking about Grover and I. Neither of us joined him in his ridiculous mission. To be honest, I entertained the idea at one point, but after this, I couldn't bear the thought. We were certain to die if we joined Luke in his stupid cause. We were certain to die either way.

"Hm. Alright. But if you can't handle this mission, then Kronos ain't gonna be happy. _I _won't be happy. If you fail, you better watch your neck." The man replied back, in his gruff voice. He was threatening Luke.

I wasn't going to stick around to listen, no matter how much I cared about Luke. He made his decision and I wasn't going to go against his decisions. Except there was no way back without passing them.

The only way was to go through them. I was certain that Luke or that man would kill me on sight. Fighting both Luke and him would be next to impossible. But scaling the wall; that was an idea. Hopefully, I could do it.

Luke and the man were both checking out the man's numerous weapons, looking down, and would most certainly hear footsteps. I didn't think they could hear me climbing the wall. It was a matter of stealth or speed, and I chose stealth.

I kept my eyes on them as I scaled the wall. Thankfully, I always wore trainers, which were more durable than if I ran in sandals. I was so glad that the top of the thin wall I was crawling on didn't have barbed wire on it. It was weird to think that such little factors determined my life.

Right when I thought I would make it, right when I was about to let go of my tongue, my foot slipped and I fell. I panicked, bracing myself to land on my feet, but I didn't need to. I landed on something weirdly soft: Luke.

"Get off me, Annie!" I paused. He called me Annie. _No one _called me Annie. I withheld from sucker-punching him, due to the circumstances. I didn't get off, keeping my eyes on the man, in case he attacked. And then Luke did something I didn't expect.

Somehow, he threw himself back, shoving me off him, pinning my wrists against the wall, with my back pressing onto the cold brick. Luke's mouth was inches away from my ear. Where the f*ck did he learn that? He whispered something that only I could hear.

"Listen, _Annie. _I'm afraid I can't tell you much right now. I'll see you at midnight. Now run. I'll make up some excuse. Just f*cking run." Suddenly, it all made sense. Everything he did in these few moments was for my benefit. He did it to hide things from whoever this guy was.

Why he called me Annie, it was to keep my real name a secret. He whispered this in my ear to keep this guy from knowing. I suddenly needed to know who exactly this guy was and why Luke was working with him, of all people.

Luke loosened his grip, and for once, I followed his orders. I ran, the bandages surprisingly still intact. I felt bad for taking such a long time, especially when Thalia was bleeding out, but I had to tell Grover everything. Mostly.

Grover opened the door with an annoyed expression on his face, "You took so long." I apologised, stepping inside and glancing at the clock. 3:09. I shoved the bandages into Grover's hands, getting ready for my part-time job.

"I'll tell you everything later. Can you take care of Thalia? I don't want to be late." Grover nodded, wrapping Thalia up. She was still unconscious. I didn't think the damage was that serious, it almost felt as if she herself didn't want to wake up.

I hurried to my room, changing my outfit to something more appropriate. The tuition was about a 15-minute walk, so I set off immediately. I charged my phone, grabbed a water bottle and exited.

My workplace was a nice area, a calm place with lots of books, like a private library. I usually tutored any kid younger than me, but I did tutor some my age, a few older than me. Luke's fake file allowed me to get a job in the first place, along with my grades.

"Good morning, Miss Chase. You're just in time. You'll be tutoring someone new!" My boss, an overly energetic woman, greeted me. I smiled at her, glancing behind her to see a cute little boy of about 10 years of age.

He was adorable, with a cute pout, olive skin, pitch black hair and eyes. His hair was disheveled, looking like it had been patted numerous times. I crouched down to his height, asking him for his name with my best smile.

"My name is Nico." He didn't smile when he talked, nor did he have a lisp, unlike most children. Nico seemed a lot more reserved and intelligent. I would like tutoring him, unlike some whinier children I had to deal with before.

We sat down at a table and started working on some work. I sat and watched him easily work his way through questions of the book, despite them being a bit advanced for his age. Finally, Nico paused, pointing at a question.

"Can you help me do this, please?" I nodded, taking a look at the question. _Forces - What is the gravitational field strength of Earth? Give approximate answer. _I thought it was a little hard for his age, but I explained it to him regardless.

I was shocked by his politeness and intelligence. The more I watched this kid, the more I liked him. "So Nico, is this your first time?" He nodded, saying he didn't like school much and preferred a tuition. I sort of agreed.

Nico had left after 2 hours, and I was left tutoring other kids for the last half an hour. In all honesty, I didn't like kids that much. Their naive nature reminded me of something I didn't have when I was younger.

Nico was an exception. I hated to say this, but he seemed just like me. I hoped it wasn't true, for the sake of this kid's childhood. Plus, this job did pay all of our bills. It even paid for Luke's absence, thankfully.

Half an hour had passed, and I was walking back to the apartment, dreading it. I didn't want to go back, but I couldn't leave Grover tending to Thalia by himself. It was 6pm, and already really dark out, but I didn't run into trouble.

Plus, in 6 hours, I would have to face Luke. I dreaded it and got excited at the same time. We all pretty much lived life on the edge, beating people up and running away. Just when I thought I escaped that life, _this _happens.

My thoughts were interrupted by a piercing scream that came from an alleyway. It wasn't any of my business, but I found myself running towards the source of the scream. I hated alleyways so much. They were so typical.

It was a child's scream, high-pitched and squeaky. Once I got there, I almost screamed myself. Nico Di Angelo was crying and screaming, curled up into a ball into the corner. He wasn't the only one there.

I yelped. "What the f*ck is that?"


	10. IX

I yelped. "What the f*ck is that?"

The creature before me was ghastly. It resembled a dog, but seemed to emit an evil aura. It had a pitch black coat, matted with blood. Its red eyes glared holes into everything it laid its eyes on. Yellowed, razor sharp teeth, coated in blood.

It stood on its hind legs, growling and convulsing, thirsty for blood. I stood, my legs glued to the ground, unable to scream. Its body was slender, its eyes were glowing, standing at a ridiculous five feet tall.

I had read about these in my spare time. I struggled to retrieve it from somewhere in my brain when the term for this creature finally resurfaced: it was a hellhound. All I could think was to run.

Just as it bared it's teeth with a resonating bark, my legs miraculously dodged its claws, trying to strike me. I scooped Nico up, attempting to run away. I halted, Nico in my arms. The beast was right in front of me.

Somehow, it appeared in front of us, without moving an inch. I was at a loss for options; it was die or fight. I set Nico down, my eyes meeting the hellhound's, withholding its gaze. It glared back at me with just as much ferocity.

I longed to set myself alight again, feeling the heat on my skin. My hands held heated balls of fire in a threatening manner. Nico was huddled into the wall, watching with intent and fright.

The hellhound doubled back in shock at the sight of my flames, but pounced at me anyway. I shoved myself to the left, barely having time for me to breathe. Quick as lightning, the hound turned on me, pinning me against the wall.

I felt so pathetic and weak. A beast defeated me so easily, in less than a minute. I didn't take the defeat yet, though, deciding to almost die instead of face defeat. My pride did that.

The hellhound's snout was almost in my face, so I smelled its murky breath. It smelled like blood. I summoned fire to veil my body in blue flames, something I rarely achieved. The hound snapped back.

I charged, fire coating my body, towards it. With a leap in my step, I jumped, landing on the hellhound's back as if it were a horse. It recoiled, kicking and stunting, desperate to get me off. I grabbed its tufts of fur, holding on.

My vain attempt at staying on long enough to kill it failed. I flung off, crashing into a wall. I probably broke a rib or two. The flames on me dispersed. The hound, again, cornered me. I shot a glance at Nico, mouthing at him to run.

But he didn't. He stood perfectly still in deep concentration, his eyes fixated on the monster. I started yelling at him to run, but he still didn't move. I sighed, eyes turning back to the hound, this time accepting defeat.

Just as it opened it's mouth, revealing rows of teeth perfectly aligned, something unexpected happened. It was enveloped in darkness like they were layers. It began roaring and flailing as more layers veiled it, until it was a dark void.

Slowly, it minimalised, its particles diffusing into the air. I watched, my mouth agape. Nico did this. The frustration I felt was indescribable. More elementals. I didn't think darkness or whatever was an element. It was surprise after surprise.

I crouched to Nico's height, looking him in the eye, preparing to brief him about people like us.

Nico

Controlling shadows was always an ability I had. Bianca told me I was special when I had trouble with it. She would pat my back, telling me I wasn't like other kids whenever I cursed my power out. I felt she deserved the power more than me.

Annabeth crouched down, meeting my eyes with a wistful smile. She put her hands on my shoulders, gesturing for me to listen well. I was absolutely still, listening to her talk, focused.

"Does anyone know of your power, Nico?" I replied, looking down. Annabeth kept asking me questions, almost like an interrogation. I answered them truthfully and patiently, only for what she was about to tell me.

"I see. Well, there are others like you with powers slightly different, but we're all the same. I call people like us Elementals. You must not tell anyone of our existence." She offered to walk me home, in fear of me getting attacked again. I accepted.

Nothing attacked us again. I led her towards my boarding school. Bianca told me not to trust strangers, but Annabeth was different, especially after trying to save my life. I trusted her. I didn't hold her hand like I held Bianca's though.

We reached my school, and Annabeth hugged me goodnight, telling me to be extra careful. I gave her a chip-toothed grin, hugging her back. She patted my head, stalking off in a different direction.

I skipped off into my room that I shared with Bianca, ready to tell her everything. Annabeth said I could tell Bianca. When I saw her, I ran into her arms, tackling her in a hug. She kissed my cheek, asking me how tuition was.

"It was so fun!" I exclaimed, preparing myself to rant about my day. I told her everything, from Annabeth to the giant black dog which she called a hellhound. I left out the detail about Annabeth and I almost dying though.

She listened intently, frowning at some bits. Bianca put plasters where I got scratched by the hellhound, and handed me a plate full of pasta, urging me to eat. I gobbled it up, starving.

After a few minutes, I stared at the empty plate, which Bianca left in the sink. She picked me up, tucking me into bed. "Goodnight, Nico. Sleep tight. Don't let the bed bugs bite."

**\- 11:56am - **

Annabeth

**Sorry, but I find it easiest to write in Annabeth's POV. **

Luke had discreetly whispered in my ear that he'd meet up with me at midnight. Perhaps he would wake me up if I slept, but I couldn't shrug off the possibility that he'd come armed, ready for anything.

My fears were instilled by the murder novel I was reading. I had very limited focus, waiting eagerly for my little meeting with Luke, but the methodic murders still worried me, leaving me with unruly thoughts.

I heard a faint tapping on the pane of my window. At first, I thought it was the rain raging outside, but I outlined a vaguely humane figure, tapping patiently on my window. I let him in.

He slipped in, water dripping off his golden hair in beads. Luke, apparently, had to make sure his identity didn't leak, so he wore a golden mask. Admittedly, it was truly magnificent to see.

It fit his features beautifully, as if it was made for only him. It only covered a third of his face, but obscured his identity well enough. Pure gold, bejewelled, luxurious. Luke's blue eyes glinted, outshining every jewel.

He slowly removed it, revealing a white-hot scar from his forehead, stretching to his nose. Luke never had even the slightest imperfection on his face. It made me eyes well with tears seeing him so broken.

"Don't worry about that now. I want to explain to you as much as I can." I wanted to yell out that I didn't care, that I'd rather spend time with him wordlessly without a single explanation. I failed to, though.

Instead, I nodded, motioning for him to start talking. Luke didn't meet my eyes when he began talking.

"I hated running away at once. Two years ago, I was stealing money from this rich dude. I got caught. I thought he was about to kill me, but he recognised me as wanted." Luke finally made eye contact, showing me the slightest hint of regret.

"He asked me if I'd want to join the biggest mafia in the world in trying to take down the government. He didn't give me a choice really. So I spent the next two years acting as their powerhouse with my power."

I paused. They didn't give him a choice. Why didn't he use his powers? I voiced my thoughts to him.

"I don't know, but he sort of disabled them using this thing." My face contorted to an expression of shock. I yelled at Luke for being so stupid. "And you overlooked that? He _meant _to run into you! Why else would he have it? What even is-"

"Annabeth! He explained that the government developed some sort of weaponry against us. It was compulsory for him to wear it whenever. I know _everything_. That's why I joined. They gave me the truth." I couldn't believe the bullsh*t.

Nevertheless, I shut up and listened. He knew things I didn't, and I needed the 'truth'. Luke explained how he knew that there were really lots of elements, probably about 10-15. I didn't say anything about Nico.

When he finished info-dumping, he grabbed my shoulders tight, looking me in the eye, his blue eyes piercing into mine intensely. "I want you to join me."

He spoke with such eloquence that I was tempted to join him. However, I thought rationally. I knew of the consequences. I refused to let myself become disposable like Luke. I prepared myself to tell him no.

My lips parted, a 'no' about to slip off my tongue when I paused. A smirk tugged at the corner of my mouth. My eyes glistened mischievously like Luke's used to.

"I want to meet Kronos."


	11. X

"I want to meet Kronos."

It was an impossible request, I understood that much. I watched Luke's eyes widen to ovals. Something told me that Luke had a fairly high rank within Kronos' clique of criminals. He would easily be able to arrange a meeting.

If he couldn't, I would give my left arm for a meeting with the mafia leader. Not because I favoured him, but simply because I wanted to propose a deal with the king of crime. A deal that would benefit both of us. I didn't care about Kronos.

What I did care for was ensuring my survival. I didn't care about the government, but if they threatened my survival, I wouldn't hesitate to eradicate them. It would've been easy for the three of us to do it, Luke just didn't realise.

Luke nodded with a sterner look. _Next week, _he mouthed to me. I gave him an approving look. He slipped out through the window. I didn't sleep that night, despite school in the morning.

Instead, I did something I didn't do in a long time: train myself. Midnight walks were leisurely, so I went, no coat nor scarf. I walked to that park I found a few days ago. The cold didn't affect me anyway. The rain still poured.

No one was there. Not even Percy. I wouldn't be able to focus with him anyway. A few kids played here in the day time, but little to no people came here at night. Good. No one could see me setting myself on fire.

I started with a little flame in my palm, watching it gain heat and strength. It licked my fingertips. I summoned a second flame, slowly turning up the heat. I combined the two fireballs, sending it hurtling down the lake.

I watched the flame extinguish with its contact with the water. I moved on to summoning hotter flames. They were smaller, but shifted colour from a regular orange to white-hot to blue. It drained me, keeping up such hot flames, but something told me I would need this skill.

I eventually enlargened the hotter fireballs to the size of bowling balls, keeping it up for about a minute, even while it was raining. The rain was a problem, but it was no doubt that I would do the same thing at some point.

Besides, I needed to sharpen up my ability as much as possible if I was to meet Kronos. I would be a powerful asset to him and easily usable, but I could use him too. I would not let myself fall victim to him and his scheming ways.

I soon moved on to setting only certain body parts on fire. First, my arm. Then, I moved on to specifics, lighting my eyes and then a single eyelash. It turned out I was internally fire proof as well. I explored every inch of my powers. I loved every second.

**-2 hours and 39 minutes-**

It must've been odd to see someone coming to their apartment at 2am. Sadly, the motion sensors worked perfectly. I sluggishly dragged myself to the 3rd floor, looking and feeling as senseless as a drunkard.

I suspected some dark eye bags would form due to my lack of sleep. I finished off some extra homework, unable to sleep. The rest of my night would go by in a daze. My bed would feel unfamiliar to me when I finally did sleep.

**-Next week, 8:24pm-**

Luke Castellan had slipped in through the window once again, this time at a more appropriate timing. He removed his golden mask, handing me a piece of paper torn from a notebook. Neat handwriting was scrawled on it.

_Annabeth Chase_

_65 Crescent Drive _

_5:30pm _

_13th November _

Tomorrow. I was meeting up with the most fearsome gang leader in the world tomorrow. Strangely enough, I didn't feel an inkling of fear. It was replaced by excitement. I was prepared to show off my worth.

I nodded to Luke as a gesture of thanks. He nodded back, pulling me into a short, bittersweet hug. I raised an eyebrow at that. Did he think we were cool or something just because I didn't punch him in the face yet?

He seemed to get it, so he kissed me on the cheek in a brotherly way instead. It wasn't better, but I didn't care anymore. Luke slipped out through the window. I started to wonder how he did that. We were on the 3rd floor.

I finished off my homework, elated for the day to come.

**-13th November, 5:27pm- **

It was the first time I lied to Grover. It felt unnatural, the lie rolling off my lips. I stood in front of the door to a huge mansion, something I could never have in my life. Was it even proper of me to knock on the door of a mansion?

A round-faced, plump lady answered the door. She let me in hastily, offering me a cocktail. I politely declined. Who knows? Perhaps Kronos liked his food with a touch of poison. I wasn't going to take the risk.

She led me up several staircases to a room labelled 'Kronos' in chicken scratch. Did he name all of his important rooms? She knocked, taking on a frightened look in her eye. There was a grunt, to which she pushed the door open.

I walked towards Kronos, looking him in the eye, not a hint of fear. He stared back, seemingly assessing my every movement like a predator laying it's eyes on their weak prey. The difference was that I was not weak.

Kronos was exactly what I expected and more. He dressed classily, but exuded danger and malevolence. His face was ruggedly handsome and tanned, his hair styled elegantly. Yet his eyes were black as coal, lifeless and malicious.

He motioned for me to sit down, pushing a tray of delicious treats my way. I sat on a velvet cushion chair, opposing Kronos. The treats looked gorgeous, but it was obvious to me they were poisoned. I took a butter cookie, biting into it.

I could see the fooled smile on Kronos' lips. This was a test. He never meant to murder me. I could smell the faint scent of mescaline, meant to drive me insane with hallucinations. Before the bitter taste got to my head, I burned it off.

Kronos hid his obvious shock by raising an eyebrow quizzically. I took another treat, a cupcake this time. They all had mescaline in it. My theory was correct. He never meant to kill me, but perhaps he hoped to use my powers while I turned insane.

"That's an awful lot of mescaline." I spoke with as much eloquence as possible. He narrowed his eyes, but soon accepted that I traversed his first test. "You're quite unexpected, Miss Chase." I knew that already. He didn't need to tell me.

_Cut the bullshit already, Kronos. _"Let's get to business. I would like to propose a deal." Kronos nodded, looking interested. He motioned for me to go on. I obliged, choosing my wording carefully, as persuasively as possible.

"I trust that I have proved my abilities to you. I understand you have a goal in mind: to eradicate the government. I'd like to assist you in this goal, with my superior abilities. But, I ask for one thing in return."

"You've piqued my interest, Miss Chase. If it's a proper job you want, then I can give that to you. Name your price, and we shall begin." I sighed, relieved. I wanted nothing more than to survive. Just as my lips parted, I paused.

_Proper _job? How would he know I even had a job? It slowly dawned on me that Kronos did a background check. He probably knew everything about me. But _how? _I didn't have a file, nor a birth certificate. I confronted Kronos.

He laughed humourlessly. "That's what you think. There _is _a file on you and your buddies. And it tells you more than you ever knew. Even Luke doesn't know about it. I couldn't even tell you everything. Now, name a price first. I'll tell you what I know."

I named the most comfortable price I could think of. 20,000 a week. I wasn't greedy. I could've asked for a million a month and Kronos would've gave it to me. But I picked something sure to let Grover and I live more than comfortably, yet nothing excessive.

I urged Kronos to tell me everything he knew about those files. Lies were hard to detect, but I kept myself on alert for anything. He told me he knew as much as me. I asked him where he got the file, to which he replied 'an anonymous source'.

"Actually, I won't pay you unless you complete missions. Depending on the mission, I'll give you money from 5,000 to 750,000. I think that's better." I'd rather get paid 20,000 a week, but I settled for this. Still, it was too good to be true.

I'd have to keep myself on alert at all times. Kronos was a sly man. We had a beneficial deal. For now. As long as I kept getting myself into illegal sh*t (I already was), Kronos would continue to pay me hefty sums of money. It satisfied me.

"What sort of missions? I'm not going to kill anyone." I couldn't help but let the question slip. Again, Kronos laughed, that deep, throaty laugh that sent shivers down my spine. It seemed that whenever he laughed, nothing was funny.

"Don't worry, you're too important for my dirty work. I can't let your incapable hands go to jail, especially with so much power. You won't even do anything life-threatening." I almost let out a sigh of relief, but held it. With so much money, _what _would I do?

"I need inside info. There's an inner circle of the most powerful politicians called The Olympians. You'll be an intern for them, serving them coffee. They don't care about teenagers, so you'll probably be able to listen in."

Kronos _definitely _thought I was a pawn to him. I supposed it was an advantage, having him think so lowly of me. But Kronos wouldn't get the whole of it. There would always be little snippets of information that I'd keep to myself.

We fixed up some schedules. I was to work after school, from 3:30pm to 7:30pm, 9:00 to 6:00pm on the Saturdays, and no hours on Sunday. I would report to Kronos weekly. He would send me 25K a week for keeping this up, and more for missions.

"I have to ask. What sort of missions am I going on?" Kronos almost waved the question off, except I didn't let him, urging him to speak. "You're really pushing my buttons, Miss Chase." He grabbed a cookie, biting into it. How odd. I thought it was poisoned.

"I need you to steal some things, direct some heists, and of course, some arson." I scoffed. Arson? Kronos couldn't have me play with fire, literally. I wouldn't be using my powers for petty schemes. Besides, what if someone died?

I didn't have a choice in the matter. It was apparent. I didn't care in all honesty. Kronos was paying me insane amounts of money. Who was I to complain when I didn't want to do a job I was assigned? I wouldn't go to jail either.

I accepted. "One more thing." Kronos rolled his eyes, but let me continue. "What am I going to tell people when I suddenly have so much money?" It seemed like a trivial question at first, but I could see the stumped look on Kronos' face.

"Tell your friend part of the truth. You're a professional thief now. Tell everyone else you inherited the money or whatever else, so long as it's not the truth." Kronos wasn't just a criminal, he was an efficient liar as well.

I nodded. "Okay. Tell the _real_ Kronos that we have a deal." I smiled inwardly, watching the fake's eyebrows knit together in confusion. I figured all along that Kronos would send in a fake. It was actually quite obvious.

"How did you figure it out? You wouldn't guess." "No, I weighed the odds. Kronos didn't know what I was going to talk to him about, and set up a meeting. He wouldn't mess up, but he told me his address, showed me his face. Nor would he make a deal without knowing my personality."

I stood, opening the door. "Well, I should go."


	12. XI

It was 5:57pm. My meeting with 'Kronos' had taken almost half an hour. When I got home, Grover was waiting for me, cooking something.

"Hey. How did it go?" I inhaled, ready to tell Grover everything. I hoped he wouldn't be mad. "About that, I have to tell you something. Do you have a minute? It's serious." He turned around and narrowed his eyes, but obliged.

I diverted my eyes to the floor, unable to meet Grover's eyes. "I lied. I wasn't at work. I actually had a job interview. It pays freakishly well. I got the job. I want to quit being a tutor. Please don't be mad when I tell you what it is."

Grover seemed confused, but let me continue anyway, asking what the pay was. "Well, I'm a hired professional thief/con artist now. The pay is 25K a week, and extra for going on missions. I've got a front as an intern."

Grover seethed with pure rage. I almost cowered in fear at the sight of Grover's eyes almost flaming in anger. "You're _purposefully _getting into illegal sh*t now! What the f*ck? Who the heck would employ you?"

3rd Person

It was at this moment, that she knew she f*cked up. Little vines, covered in thorns, had blossomed from Grover's hands, climbing up his arms. A few slithered up her body like pythons. She burned them away cautiously.

Grover looked like the inhaling seagull meme. Annabeth yelled at him to stop, to get his emotions in order. He inhaled, unlike the meme this time, calming himself down. There was a few plant dudes, and a bit of smoke, but he calmed down fully.

"Alright. You've got one minute to tell me everything or I will _not _calm down." Annabeth began ranting about everything, even Kronos, in the most convincing way she could. She didn't see how Kronos could know.

After she finished, Grover facepalmed. "You're a f*cking idiot, you know that? You can't survive by risking your life! Money can't buy your survival, you _idiot!_" Of course, Annabeth knew all this, but she also knew her life was collateral anyway.

"For f*ck's sake, I don't know if you're brave, stupid or stubborn. This isn't a game! Keep doing whatever you're doing, but if you know you're going to die, drop out." Grover spoke sternly, but she hugged him, thankful he accepted.

"Anyway, who are these so-called _Olympians?" _Her lips parted to speak, but got interrupted by Thalia Grace standing in the doorway. She had seemingly recovered, standing confidently. "How do you know who the Olympians are?"

Annabeth swallowed a gulp. She didn't feel like telling Thalia everything. She didn't know if she could be trusted or not. "I'm an intern for them." Grover shot Annabeth a questioning glance, but didn't say anything.

Annabeth returned the question. "Why? How do _you _know them?" Thalia heaved a sigh. She claimed it was a long story, so made them move to the sofa, where she could talk about it more comfortably.

Thalia

It was incredibly hard for me to talk about _it _in front of people I barely knew, but I decided that I'd persevere through it. It would probably help me out in the future, for them to know. I just hoped they wouldn't do anything stupid once they found out.

"The Olympians take on the name of the 12 gods in Greek mythology. Their leader is Zeus, who has way too many affairs, and lots of kids." Annabeth seemed to get at what I was hinting. Grover, however, squinted in confusion.

"One of his kids is me. Well, I have a brother, but..." I averted my gaze to the floor. I didn't want to tell them that Jason wasn't here. I didn't have to, did I? So I didn't. They probably guessed either way.

"My father is kind of a d*ck. He left my mother. She was a TV actress. After he left, she went mad and became an alcoholic. She's a lost cause in the film industry now." Grover and Annabeth both looked at me with pity. I hated pity.

"So, you're the daughter of a huge politician. Could you tell us about the others? If that's okay with you." Grover was being as gentle as possible, so I reluctantly told them about the rest. "I don't know a lot either, but I'll try."

"There's Poseidon. He manages trades with other countries with Hermes. Then Ares, upholds the military with Artemis. Demeter, oversees farming and stuff. Hera, Zeus' wife. Doesn't do much, other than ruin the lives of Zeus' lovers." I didn't say anything about _Hera. _She could die for what I cared.

"Anyway, Dionysus. He keeps up their reputation, along with Aphrodite. Apollo manages relationships with other nations. Hephaestus makes money, and is a great craftsmen. And lastly, Athena." I had met Athena, and she was _scary. _

_"_Athena is the smartest. She's the brains behind the whole thing. Zeus calls himself a leader, but she's more of it than Zeus is. Be careful, she finds a fault in everyone. She checks on everything." Annabeth nodded in thanks.

I would've pushed them for the truth, but was too tired too. Instead, I got up, raising my hands. "With that being said, can you help me train my powers?" "Oh, sorry. Grab a coat and follow us." They both got up and rushed to get changed.

I waited patiently, until they both emerged in work-out clothes. Should I have changed too? I followed them somewhere, it was about a 25-minute walk. Even I didn't know where we were going, and I knew NYC well.

Finally, we reached the most stereotypical setting ever. It was dark out, and a 'haunted' house loomed over us. It was grey, with paint chipping off the walls. It was clearly abandoned. The windows were scratched and broken.

"We found this place some time ago. I thought it'd be a good place to train." Grover opened the door, leading us in. The inside looked as bad as the outside. Still, it was something. I doubted I even needed to train myself.

Annabeth and Grover set some mannequins and targets up, but that was it. They brought a torchlight with them. "Thalia, strike that mannequin with lightning." I did as Annabeth asked, striking perfectly, careful not to damage it too much.

"How good are you without using your powers?" I thought. "Pretty good, why?" "Spar with me." That took me by surprise. I thought we were training my powers. Nevertheless, I readied myself to spar with Annabeth.

Grover clapped to signal the start. Immediately, Annabeth attacked my stomach, but I blocked. She attempted a leg sweep. I dodged, except it was a fake attack. She tried to elbow my hip. I lost my balance and fell, but I brought Annabeth with me.

We both tumbled to the floor. "Sorry," I apologised. "It's okay. Let's try something else," she replied. She picked herself up, getting the torchlight, but it ran out of battery. "Can you light this torchlight?" I did.

"How about you try and keep a level of electricity for some time?" Grover bit into a cookie as he spoke. Annabeth grabbed two, handing one to me. I nodded, finishing my cookie. I summoned lots of of lightning to my body.

I kept it up for about 7 minutes before tiring. It was an impressive time, even Annabeth could only keep it up for about 9. "Now how about you and Grover with the use of powers?" I smiled. I really wanted to use my power in combat.

"Go!" Annabeth yelled. Bolts of lightning enveloped my body. Vines broke through the floor. Grover's vines attacked me like snakes. Plants were sensitive to lightning though. One wrapped itself around my feet, tripping me up.

The rest scurried to wrap themselves around my body. I sent lightning flowing through my body, killing them instantly. Unfortunately, Grover had more tricks up his sleeves. He generated this odd-looking plant. It was a Venus fly trap.

**A/N In case you don't know what a Venus fly trap is, it's this plant that can move. In its jaws, it has a sweet-smelling substance to attract insects. Once the insects are in its jaws, it eats them, closing its jaws. That, or it just grabs the insects. **

"Agh!" I grumbled, dodging its jaws. It'd be really hard to kill this plant. Instead, I stayed at a distance and shot a bolt of lightning in its mouth. It died. Except a vine grabbed me from behind and encircled my waist.

It wasn't a regular vine. It was covered in what looked like potatoes. I couldn't kill it with lightning. "What's this?" "It's a tuber. They aren't affected by lightning until a few days." I cursed. Grover really knew his botany.

_Think. _I commanded myself. These were potatoes covering a regular vine. In a desperate attempt, I started plucking the potatoes off one by one, faster than Grover could regenerate them, until I could see some green.

I shot some lightning at it. The vine evaporated, sending tubers to the floor. I sighed in relief. "That was impressive, I guess," Grover said. He wasn't done yet though. Suddenly, the floor beneath me started shaking.

Before I knew it, I was lying in a pile of rubble. _That's right. Grover has earth-themed powers, not plant-based powers. _Of course he would be able control land. Some rubble had trapped my leg, immobilising me.

I guess it was time for my trump card. Truth is, I wasn't completely useless at all. I did train my powers well. I could manifest my power in different ways. Only a fool wouldn't try to train themselves if they knew they had superpowers.

I carved out a knife with lightning. Cutting through the rubble, I shakily stood up. Both Annabeth and Grover looked impressed. Lessening it to a ball of lightning, I hurtled it at Grover. With ease, he dodged.

Before we could continue, 'This Girl is on Fire' by Alicia Keys started playing. It was Annabeth's ringtone. "Sorry! Stop fighting a second, I need to take this." I didn't think she interacted with anybody much, so this came off as a shock.

Annabeth

It was Kronos. He was calling me at 7:30. There was only one thing he could want at this time. I didn't expect a call so soon. I picked up, apologising for the abrupt interruption. "Hello?" I tried to hide the shakiness in my voice.

"Chase, I have a mission for you."


	13. XII

"Chase, I have a mission for you."

No. This was just too early. It hadn't even been 2 hours since my meeting. Were these missions going to be this often? Suddenly, I started regretting everything I said to Kronos. He started speaking again. I shook off my fear.

"Meet me at this address." I got a message. _66 Hanover Street. _This voice was different. It wasn't the same one whom I had met with. It was more intimidating, always alert, threatening. I wondered if this was the voice of the real thing.

**A/N All addresses are fake. I just searched up a bunch of street names or made them up. **

"When?" "8pm. Don't worry, it's not too serious. It's barely a mission." I didn't believe him, but I didn't have a choice. "When will I start the job?" I asked. I heard a sigh from the other end. "Don't ask questions. Just go to the address."

He hung up. "Sorry, you two. I have a meeting." Thalia rolled her eyes, and Grover nodded. Maybe she knew that I wasn't just an intern for the Olympians. They got their stuff and we parted ways, me heading to the address.

7:50pm 

I entered the address into maps, finding it instantly. It was a 20-minute walk. Apparently, it was a totally normal address. I felt bad for the neighbours, who wouldn't know that their neighbours were part of a huge criminal organisation.

66 Hanover Street looked just like a normal house. The door was painted red, with two large windows. Obviously, they had blinds and curtains. They couldn't risk anyone looking. It reminded me of the houses in London.

I rapped on the door, steadying my breathing. The red-painted door opened to reveal a pretty lady with her dark hair up in a bun. She let me in, not saying anything. It startled me when she locked the door as soon as I stepped in.

Still not speaking, she led me to the living room. A man, mid-40s, was writing something down. He wasn't the guy I met with before. The woman left, bowing slightly. I approached the man to get a closer look.

I knew at once that this was the real Kronos. Fake Kronos put up a good act, but he didn't hold a candle to the real thing. The fake one looked intimidating, but he wasn't all that compared to the real one.

Kronos' eyes were red; a murderous, _intelligent _look. Just standing in the same room made me scared. That's how fearful the look in his eye was. His hair was gelled back. His skin was scarred, yet he seemed posh.

Kronos' outfit cost more than my life. His muscles were huge, he could knock me out easily. Gucci suit, gold earring, Rolex watch, Louibiton shoes. Not to mention the cologne. Was it Dior, something I know to be 300 dollars?

"I have a mission for you." Yeah, it was definitely Kronos who called me. I was at a loss for words, so I only nodded sheepishly. I could only hope this mission wouldn't kill me or force me to do something horrible.

Kronos handed me a 100 dollar bill. "Get me a Sexagintuple Vanilla Bean Mocha Frappuccino from Starbucks. Keep the change." I was shocked. I thought I was going on a mission, not be his errand girl. I voiced my thoughts.

"This is your mission. You're an intern for the Olympians. This is the kind of stuff they'll have you do. I'm teaching you how to do your job, dammit. Now go, or you're fired." I didn't question why he would know that.

It got dark out early, so I was stumbling for the nearest Starbucks as quick as possible. Kronos couldn't fire me, but he was right. I would get fired if I couldn't be a proper intern, especially if the Olympians were as strict as I thought.

As soon as I found a Starbucks, which was almost empty, and that I had ran to, I slammed the money on the counter and panted out the order. "Sexagintuple Vanilla Bean Mocha Frappuccino, please."

The employee gave me a pitying look as she entered the order into the computer. "It sounds like you're working for some rich douchebag. What's your name?" I laughed, "Something like that. My name is Annabeth."

I couldn't exactly tell her my boss was a mafia leader. Or that I worked for a bunch of idiots pretending to be Greek gods. She handed me the change, which was 46.25 dollars. How rich was this guy?! He said I could keep the change.

This alone could pay for my groceries. I didn't even start interning and I already was receiving way too much. It almost sickened me how people like Kronos had such crazy amounts of money to give away so generously.

The employee was done in about 5 minutes. The drink looked fabulous and tasty. Kronos was a sketchy guy, but even I had to admit he had good taste. I almost understood why it cost so much. I took extra care not to drop it.

I knocked on the door once again, and the same woman answered me. She still didn't say anything. I went to the living room, where Kronos was writing something down. He glanced up and motioned for me to give it to him.

"Huh, you're not completely useless." Kronos took a sip. He noticed a small slip of paper attached to the cup. Kronos laughed. "Somebody's popular." He pushed it towards me. I picked it up, realising it was a note from the employee.

_[somebody's number]_

_I swear I've seen you around school. Call me sometime. _

_\- Reyna _

I was flattered. She didn't give off flirty vibes, but she did seem like she'd be a good friend. "You won't kill her if I called, right?" Kronos thought for a second, and then shook his head. "As long as you shut up about this."

He continued drinking. I stood there idly, waiting for his next orders. "By the way, you start interning on Monday. I still need you to do some stuff. Meet me on Friday, 15th November, same time." I nodded, one question in mind.

"If I may, how did you manage to get me this job?" Kronos looked at me as if I was delusional. "Get you the job? Your job interview is Saturday." My eyes widened. I had _two days _to prepare for a job interview?

My eyes gavemy emotions away instantly. I could tell that Kronos was laughing at me internally. _F*ck you, Kronos. _He always knew exactly what somebody was thinking. So I hoped that he could tell what I was thinking.

Kronos grunted. "Alright, you can go now. Don't expect easy missions like this in the future." I nodded, eager to get out and go to bed. He gestured for me to get lost, and I obeyed without hassle.

8:20pm 

I didn't realise that getting coffee would take up so much time. Grover was doing something in the kitchen. He was always in the kitchen, even when he didn't need to be. For some reason, he really liked to cook. Luke and I never protested.

When he heard me, he turned around and handed me a chocolate-chip cookie. "I, uh, baked these before. How was your mission?" I thanked him, nibbling the edge. "It was boring. I just got coffee for Kronos. That's it."

Grover's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "The king of crime wanted you to get coffee for him?" I shrugged, biting my cookie. "He said I need to learn to be a proper intern. It cost 54 dollars or something."

"When do you start interning?" I got reminded of the job interview that I had to prepare for. I didn't answer, setting 46 dollars on the counter, running to my room, screaming 'sh*t' my way there. Immediately, I started googling a bunch of stuff.

I prepared notes on job interviews, resumes and other stuff. Half way through, I got a text. It was from Kronos. _Meet me at 28 Curnock Street instead after school. Bring work-out clothes. Also, we've prepared a resume for you. _That calmed my nerves a bit.

Still, I worked diligently, taking notes. This was a really big deal, so I had to work well and ace this, or I could say goodbye to a comfortable, hassle-free life. I quickly googled the location of Curnock Street. Turned out, it was a fancy place.

Friday 15th November

"Sorry, I have to get going!" I waved goodbye to Grover and Percy, shouldering my backpack. I hummed a tune as I walked to the address that Kronos gave me. I wondered how odd it would look for a teenager to make their way into a fancy place like this.

The same woman from last time opened the door, gesturing for me to come inside. She still didn't say anything, leading me somewhere. I followed, not thinking about where she might be taking me. Finally, we arrived in some sort of private gym.

Kronos was texting on an iPhone 11 Pro, that was apparently studded with what looked like diamonds. "Finally. You're going to be sparring against someone today. I think they would be a good match for you. No powers. They're coming in a bit."

I was about to ask a question when Kronos pushed a tray of desserts my way. He gestured for me to take one. "They're not poisoned, are they?" He rolled his eyes. "Why would I poison someone as important as you?" He had a point, so I took one.

It was really not poisoned. I had grabbed a mini brownie, and in truth, it was delicious. I was about to ask who his personal chef was when my sparring partner, a male teenager, walked into the room, a bag slung over his shoulders.

It was Luke.

**P.S Sorry I haven't been updating, and that this is late. I won't update orderly, but I swear I'll update frequently, normally on the weekends. **


	14. XIII

It was Luke.

My eyes bore into the ground as I averted Luke's eyes. My face reddened. I expected this sooner or later, but I didn't expect this so soon. Luke felt the same way I did, letting out a small 'oh'. Kronos facepalmed.

"For f*ck's sake, you're here for me to see Annabeth's skills in fighting. Not for you to ogle at the ground. First one to pin the other down for 10 seconds wins. Now fight!" He yelled it. With that, I raised my head, meeting Luke's eyes.

We began fighting. Luke had significantly improved. We were on equal terms before, but I now found myself struggling to dodge and hit. I knew that it was all over for me if I got hit. I kept my distance. Apparently, Luke had learned some martial arts.

While I was punching and kicking mindlessly, he was fighting stylistically. I wanted to change that. I couldn't get a single hit in, but neither could he. Luke attempted to kick me, but I caught his leg, smiling to myself.

I heard him curse to himself. He hopped backwards, bringing me with him. I lost my grip and let his leg go. He took that as an opportunity to tackle me to the ground. I didn't let him pin me down. Then, I felt a sudden pressure on my shoulders.

I blinked in confusion. He had me pinned down, using the air to his advantage, even though Kronos explicitly stated that powers weren't allowed. Ten seconds had passed, with me raging at the broken rule. Kronos didn't bat an eye. I guess I should've expected that he was fine with dirty playing.

Luke pulled me up, smiling awkwardly. I didn't react. Kronos got up, Fiji water bottle in hand. "You're okay currently, but you both need to get better. I have a meeting now. You can leave or work out. Whatever." He stalked off, leaving us alone.

Luke immediately attacked me in a bear hug once there was no sign of Kronos. His chin rested on my head, stroking my hair. I was shocked by the sudden loving gesture. "I really missed you. I'm so glad you decided to join."

With a small smile, I hugged him back. "Me too, Luke." Once he let go, he asked me if I was free. "I want to take you out for a walk or something." I pondered for a second, before nodding. Meeting Kronos didn't take as long as expected.

He linked arms with me, showing off the biggest grin he had ever given me, and we left. It was just a simple walk, and hopefully, we would be able to discuss some things. "Luke, uh, can we talk?" His eyes dulled a bit, but he nodded.

I took a look at his chest: Hugo Boss. It was more modest than what Kronos would wear, but we would never be able to afford it, or even take a glance at it."He's paying you too. He has been for two years, right?"

Luke didn't speak. "I know my brands, Luke." He rubbed his neck, admitting it. "I didn't do it just for the money though. That's kind of how our bills kept getting paid without debt." I thought Luke had a fairly high salary for a gym trainer, but I guess I was wrong.

To be honest, I wasn't that surprised. Luke wasn't stupid enough to work for Kronos without pay, especially with his elemental powers. I shrugged my shoulders and we continued talking, as if we were old friends.

"So, how've ya been?" He asked me. "Good. Nothing has changed really. You?" That was a lie. I still kept meeting Nico a secret. Maybe I would tell him one day, but that day was not today. I refused to believe it myself, even now.

"I've been alright. I'm sad I can't see you and Grover as often as I did, but at least I can see you through Kronos now." I was touched. Luke really did care about us. "Me too, Luke. We're still enrolled at Goode, I kind of want you to come back."

He looked conflicted. "I want to, Annabeth, but I also really want to eradicate _The Olympians. _I can't live with you anymore, but I'll hopefully be back at Goode. Oh, that reminds me. How's Percy?" I tilted my head, my face reddening.

"Percy? Oh, he's doing well. Grover and him are good friends." I didn't dare mention the part where I burst into tears and had him console me. That would make Luke feel worse than he already did, and I didn't want that.

Neither of us were looking where we were going, so we ended up stumbling into a few quiet areas. It was still light out, and it wasn't a creepy alleyway, but surprisingly, even New York had some quiet, peaceful places.

There was nobody else, just us two. In some ways, I preferred it like this. Luke and I sat down on a bench and resumed talking. We didn't get far when we were interrupted by something I pretty much forgot about.

A vicious squawk was followed by talons trying to slash my chest. Thankfully, Luke shoved me to the ground. It was an eagle, from what I could see. Luke got up, fighting the eagle. He was doing such a good job fighting it.

I didn't know if eagles were common in NY or not, but this one seemed different to normal eagles. It was larger, with beady, malicious eyes. Eagles didn't just attack strangers either. This one was a lot faster, and then I caught a glimpse of its beak.

It was golden, sharper than a kitchen knife. The talons could rip my throat, but the beak was unrealistically sharp. It was probably the sharpest thing I had ever seen. I didn't know how Luke could fight it. The beak could probably peck our livers out.

**A/N I have a joke. Where did Prometheus come from? **

**LIVERpool. HAHAHAHA **

Why was this thing attacking _us? _We didn't do anything! Why were all these random monsters attacking us? That hellhound back then too, they all seemed out to kill us in cold blood. I didn't want to die. How long would I survive?

I hefted myself to the ground, making up my mind that I didn't want to die. It was die or fight, but it turned out that I didn't need to. Only 1 minute had passed, and Luke had already killed it. Like last time, it disintegrated into a shower of gold.

Some gold-coloured substance rained down onto my palm. I carefully examined it. "Is this..." my voice trailed off in shock. "Yeah, it's real gold. Their blood is gold too." Luke's hands were smothered with golden blood.

"Does Kronos know about all this?" Luke nodded, walking. I followed. "Mhm. He told me about this. Said it's part of how he got rich. They can either be killed with gold, silver or bronze or with our powers."

"Why are they after us?" Luke shrugged. "They go after people like us, those with powers. Kronos knew an Elemental in the past apparently." His use of 'apparently' indicated that he didn't actually believe that.

I lingered on the thought that Kronos might be like us too. It would explain a lot of things, but it just seemed so unlikely. Every Elemental I've met so far was around the same age as us. Why would there suddenly be a much older guy?

I concluded that Kronos might have known one in the past. Maybe he killed them or they're still alive and I've yet to meet them. Perhaps I could ask Kronos, if he would even give me a proper answer.

Luke narrowed his eyes. "You're wording your questions as if you've ran into them before." I didn't see any point in hiding it. "Yeah, a hellhound." I was hoping he wouldn't prompt me to tell him more and reveal Nico's existence.

"How did you get rid of it?" I cursed in my head. I hated lying, and he knew that. Still, should I tell him about Nico? I weighed the pros and cons, contemplating on what to tell him. I inhaled, deciding to tell him half the truth.

"I was walking from the tuition when I heard a scream from an alleyway. It was a kid from my tuition. A hellhound was there. I fought it. It fought back and then it disappeared into shadow." I hoped Luke wouldn't urge me to tell him more.

"You used your powers against a hellhound _in front of _the kid." I rubbed my neck in shame, though not really. "He's a little kid. He'll be quiet." That, and the kid had powers of his own. Luke seemed to buy it. "Hellhounds do that sometimes. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Tell me more about them." "Hellhounds are attracted to shadows and teleport through them. Certain monsters sometimes go after their element, but not always, because not every monster is element-related."

He paused, waiting for a traffic light to go green. "I get eagles and flying ones. Grover would get bugs, horses, earthly creatures. Thalia could get anything electric-themed. Percy would get fish, sea monsters and stuff." I waited until he got to me.

"Well, it sucks for you especially. You'd get dragons, manticores, chimeras, and you're pretty much dead if you run into anything water-related." I thought that was really nice to know, that I would probably die if the circumstances chose.

I checked my watch. 4:15pm. "Oh, I should get going. I have a job interview tomorrow and Grover is probably waiting for me." Luke smiled. "Alright. I'll get going too. I'll see you Monday!" He briefly hugged me before running off.

I stalked off towards the apartment, my muscles aching and sore. Today was tiring, and would only get even more exhausting. I dragged myself up the third floor, knocking weakly on the door. Percy answered. He beamed at me.

"Oh, hi Annabeth!" I gave him a small, weary smile, to which he let me in. Thalia was there too. They were playing a board game with a bunch of snacks. Grover and Thalia both greeted me, to which I greeted back. He was in a good mood.

I got changed into my pyjamas and started taking notes on job interviews. Kronos sent me a text determining the address as 4 Bell Street at 2pm. I set out my outfit and prepared my notes to make sure I looked adequate enough for tomorrow.

"Annabeth?" It was Percy's voice, followed by a knock. I yelled for him to come in. He came in, holding a plate of nachos. "Hey. I thought you might get hungry, so I brought a plate of nachos." He set them down and sat next to me on my bed.

I really appreciated the thought. Percy was so caring and kind. "Thanks for everything, Percy." I remembered all the times he helped me out, even when he didn't even know me. Without thinking, I hugged him, crossing off the second hug from a guy today.

He wrapped his arms around me, and we stayed like that for a minute before he let go. "I should go. Thalia will probably yell if I'm not back." I nodded, going back to writing out notes.

Saturday

I sat, waiting patiently for my job interview. I understood it was vital in order for me to work for Kronos, but I still didn't understand how Kronos expected me to ace a job interview for such a big job, especially since I don't even go to school that often.

"Annabeth Chase." A monotone voice called out my name. I stood up. It was time.

**A/N Sorry this is a late update. I didn't have my phone on Monday and planned to extend this episode a little. **


	15. XIV

Annabeth

I stood up. It was time.

Sucking in a breath, I plopped myself down on the cushioned chair, taking in the atmosphere. The walls were cream-coloured, a plant on the windowsill, which overlooked the city. I restrained myself from resting my arms on the wooden table.

The interviewer looked stern, but sophisticated. She was beautiful, but regarded me with a cold, hard gaze. She held a clipboard and pen for notes. "Ready to begin?" It didn't seem like a question, more like a statement, but I nodded nevertheless.

"First question: what's an achievement you are proud of?" She started off with a predictable question, one that I knew exactly how to answer. When I was younger, I learned Greek for some reason, so I was now fluent in Greek.

"I learned Greek fluently," I replied. Talking about academic or athletic achievements would peg me as a commoner, so I picked something that would showcase my determination and intelligence. The woman wrote something down, and continued interviewing me.

About half an hour had passed when she asked me an unpredictable question. "Do you consider yourself lucky?" It was seen as an abnormal question to ask in interviews, but I was prepared for it. "I don't believe in luck. What happens happens."

She raised her eyebrows, impressed, and noted that down too. Another 20 minutes had passed before she let me go, giving me a brief smile. I took that as a good sign, and that the interview went well. Getting my hopes up wouldn't do me good though.

I exited, ecstatic to find out whether I got the job or not. Normally, it takes a couple days to a week for them to get back to me. Thinking about it too much would trouble me, I decided. I walked off, relaxing myself, to get something at McDonald's.

Percy

My eyes were fixated on the water bottle as if I was having a staring contest with it. I made it flip, using no hand gestures, over and over again. Gabe was sound asleep, so it was hard to concentrate with his snoring, but I managed.

I discovered that I didn't get wet unless I wanted to, after a previous shower. Also, anything I touched would be dry for as long as I held onto it. Lighting a match under the shower was a weird sight to see. I explored my powers a little.

As somebody on the swim team, I hated the idea of using my powers to cheat, but, as a student, I did like the idea of subtly dousing some a*sholes, like Nancy. Plus, Annabeth said that the more I controlled my powers, the better I can keep it a secret.

It was almost 3pm and winter. Even so, I liked to walk along the beach. Maybe this time, I'd go to test out my powers, albeit subtly. So I went, head hunched, eyes boring into the ground, dark blue hoodie making me look unsettling.

I was aware that my appearance was off-putting, and I was fine with that. Interacting with others unnerved me. Although I didn't wear the hoodie because it was cool, I planned to go swimming. Unlike others, though, I didn't want to go out in swimming trunks.

The beach was surprisingly hectic, considering it was winter. Lots of people bustled about, squealing and laughing. Removing my hoodie, I trudged towards the sea, sand getting in my toes. Maybe it was because I controlled water, but I loved the sea.

I swam out a little far, but it wasn't exactly a problem for a guy who could breathe underwater. I wasn't the only one, there was some people who were surfing. Slight envy filled me, as I couldn't afford a surfboard. _One day, _I told myself.

I submerged myself in, checking to see that the lifeguard wasn't looking. It was serene under the water. Sound didn't travel well in water. I stayed there for a few minutes, before deciding to head back to the shore. It'd take some time anyway.

I resurfaced, wading towards the sand. People were still there, as if it was summer.

"Dude, are you _dry_?"

Grover

"How did it go?" Annabeth flashed me a thumbs up sign, biting into her cheeseburger. She tossed me one. I secretly hoped she got the job, but something told me Kronos wouldn't let her not get the job.

"I guess it's okay. Guess there's not much to do now. Anyway, I've got my last shift at the tuition. I'll get ready in 15 minutes." With that, she pulled out her phone and started texting somebody. Or maybe she was writing something.

Finishing off my cheeseburger, a walk seemed good at this point. Just a nice, long walk to clear my head. So I got ready, making sure I looked presentable enough. Annabeth had left just before me. She forgot her phone, probably on purpose, we didn't use them often.

I walked around aimlessly, letting my legs decide where to go. Lots of people strolled around this time, so I didn't stick out as a teenager dawdling about. The first place I visited was the library. It was peaceful, but huge, and a great place to just relax.

I nestled myself into a blue couch, picking up _Death on the Nile _by Agatha Christie. It was a strangely intriguing book, kept in surprisingly good condition for a library book. I took in its sheer beauty. Thankfully, nobody bothered me.

Half an hour had passed when I decided to take the book and read it at home. Annabeth wouldn't be back for another two and a half hours. Yet, I still didn't want to go home, so I decided to continue walking.

Despite it being almost Christmas, the weather wasn't too bad. Book tucked under my arm, coffee in my hand, walking was pleasant. I felt at ease, and I decided then and there that I would walk around more often. Maybe telling Annabeth next time.

My next stop was not as quiet as the library, but it was window shopping. New York was the most extravagant place I've ever lived in, and it showed. The fashion was impeccable, as was the food, buildings and even the people. It almost made me feel homesick.

Suddenly, I wanted to go back to England, back to my city. It wasn't nearly as populated or grand, more simplistic and natural. Even the library was beautiful. Not a single thing wasn't. Not even the people were unattractive.

Annabeth and Luke wouldn't get it if I told them. They were two of the most attractive people in Goode, and I was their ugly friend that everyone pitied. I had a limp in my leg, and therefore unathletic. Ugly, unathletic with average grades. Great.

But hey, what could I do? Life was just like this sometimes, and I would have to learn to accept it. Besides, I did have something that made me different to the rest, although it was supposed to be a secret.

A slight chuckle escaped me as I glanced around at the plants of New York.

Percy

"Dude, are you dry?" Panic and fear rose up in my throat. Annabeth was going to _kill_ me! I turned, to see a cute kid with eyes as black as his hair. He was smiling, as if he was having the best day of his life.

I silently thanked my lucky stars. Maybe I could convince this kid that it was a secret. I beamed at the kid, kneeling down to his height. "What you saw today is a secret. Don't mention this to anyone, okay?"

"But I wanted to tell Bianca." He frowned, as if contemplating something, and then his eyes widened. "You're like Annabeth and her fire! I'm Nico!" Now it was my turn for the eye widening.

"You know Annabeth? And her secret?" He nodded vigorously. I studied Nico. He was intelligent, and he knew about Annabeth's powers. Could he be...?

"You must be a water bender! I'm a shadow bender, and Annabeth's a fire bender," Nico whisper-shouted. I didn't know much about the elements, but Nico being a shadow whatever-he-said was plausible.

"Nico!" A girlish voice yelled, a slightly-taller (but still short) figure approaching Nico and I. She looked like the twelve-year-old female version of Nico, probably his sister, Bianca. She had her hair in a braid, and chestnut eyes. She twiddled her thumbs in a nervous manner, apologising profusely.

"I'm so sorry if he was a bother!" I couldn't help the slight quirk of my lips. Bianca seemed like a good sister. She reminded me a little of my mother, who was always so selfless and caring.

"That's okay, Bianca? You're a good sister." With that, I slipped on my hoodie and walked off, not missing the red flush to Bianca's cheeks at the compliment.

"Wait, was he dry?" I smirked.

**A/N I suck, don't I? That was an unexpected, uncalled for, utterly long hiatus. Let's just say COVID hit me and my country hard, yeah? I won't discontinue nor abandon this until it's completed. Probably. Idk, I've gotten way too into Naruto to be healthy. Still obsessed with PJO and this fic, so it's going to get finished. Unless someone murders me in my sleep. Also, yeah, I'm going to be giving you random facts at the end of every chapter. They _might _foreshadow the next chapter, relate to the current chapter, or have no significance at all. **

**Fact: There are more historic artefacts in the sea than in all of our museums. **


End file.
